>>Monday? I don't know. Today, if someone has a project??
I'm feeling very lazy, so Monday might be good for me. OTOH, I've got the kids this weekend and might need an occasional (exciting!) diversion?<<
Would this be sufficiently diverting (this is from a year ago)?
>>CAMBRIDGE, Mass., February 12/ PRNewswire/ -- Alnylam Pharmaceuticals, a biotechnology start-up in Cambridge, Massachusetts in the United States, announced the licensing of a series of patents in the emerging field of RNA interference. Garching Innovation, the Munich based Technology Transfer Organization of the Max-Planck Society, led the negotiations on behalf of Max-Planck and the other co-owners of the licensed patents of Alnylam's founders.
By entering into this transaction Alnylam has solidified its rights to develop therapeutics under the strongest intellectual property estate in the burgeoning field of RNA interference, or RNAi, the recently discovered method of silencing genes.
The researchers at Max Planck, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, The Whitehead Institute, and the University of Massachusetts Medical School have characterized the role of short RNAi molecules and their effect on silencing selected genes in mammalian cells. Building upon this, the ongoing research at Alnylam Pharmaceuticals could lay the foundation for some of the most exciting therapeutic advances in the fields of viruses and cancer over the last two decades.
John Maraganore, Alnylam's CEO, notes that "the consolidation of Alnylam's patent estate positions the company to be the world's leader in RNA interference-based therapeutics, and provides an intellectual property foundation for future drug discovery." Maraganore adds that the Cambridge start-up is poised to capitalize on the ground-breaking research by bringing "a revolutionary new class of medicines to market."
Alnylam Pharmaceuticals, Inc., is a leading company in the emerging field of RNA interference (RNAi) whose vision is to harness a revolution in biology for human healthTM. Over the last several years, RNAi has been discovered as a fundamental cellular mechanism for gene silencing. Alnylam has assembled the leading group of academic scientists in the field of RNAi as founders and advisors. The intellectual property of the Alnylam's founders has allowed the company to enter this field with a leadership position. Alnylam's focus is to discover, develop, and commercialize therapeutic products based on RNAi for a broad range of therapeutic indications including viral infection, oncology, and autoimmune disease. The company's mission is to lead research in the field of RNAi, to build the leading pipeline of RNAi-based therapeutics, and to emerge as business leaders.
Alnylam is headquartered in Cambridge, MA. The company was founded in 2002 with investment from leading venture capital firms: Polaris Venture Partners, Cardinal Partners, Atlas Venture Partners, and ARCH Venture Partners. Additional information is available on the Company's web site at alnylam.com <<
Cheers, Tuck |
