FDA grants Orphan Drug Designation to Alnylam ALN-AT3 for treatment of hemophilia B

Alnylam Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (Nasdaq: ALNY), a leading RNAi therapeutics company, announced today that the U.S. Food & Drug Administration (FDA) has granted an Orphan Drug Designation to ALN-AT3 as a therapeutic for the treatment of hemophilia B. Alnylam is developing ALN-AT3, a subcutaneously administered RNAi therapeutic targeting antithrombin (AT), for the treatment of hemophilia - including hemophilia A, hemophilia B, and hemophilia A or B with "inhibitors" - and other Rare Bleeding Disorders (RBD).

“a major scientific breakthrough that happens once every decade or so”

"We are very pleased to have received Orphan Drug Designation from the FDA for ALN-AT3, a key program in our 'Alnylam 5x15' product development and commercialization strategy. We believe that our subcutaneously delivered RNAi therapeutic represents an innovative approach for the management of hemophilia and has great potential to make a meaningful impact in the treatment of this often debilitating bleeding disorder," said Saraswathy (Sara) Nochur, Ph.D., Senior Vice President, Regulatory Affairs and Quality Assurance at Alnylam. "We look forward to advancing this important program towards the clinic in the months to come."

At the recent Congress of the International Society on Thrombosis and Haemostasis, Alnylam presented pre-clinical data demonstrating that ALN-AT3 can normalize thrombin generation and improve hemostasis in hemophilia mice and can fully correct thrombin generation in a non-human primate (NHP) hemophilia "inhibitor" model. ALN-AT3 utilizes the company's proprietary GalNAc conjugate delivery platform, enabling subcutaneous dose administration. Alnylam plans to file an investigational new drug (IND) application for ALN-AT3 in the fourth quarter of 2013 and initiate a Phase I clinical trial in early 2014.

The FDA Office of Orphan Products Development (OOPD) mission is to advance the evaluation and development of products that demonstrate promise for the diagnosis and/or treatment of rare diseases or conditions. OOPD provides incentives for sponsors to develop products for rare diseases. The Orphan Drug Designation program provides orphan status to drugs and biologics which are defined as those intended for the safe and effective treatment, diagnosis or prevention of rare diseases/disorders that affect fewer than 200,000 people in the U.S.