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| ALNY > SEC Filings for ALNY > Form 8-K on 13-Nov-2012 | All Recent SEC Filings |
13-Nov-2012
Entry into a Material Definitive Agreement, Termination of a Materi
On November 12, 2012, Alnylam Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (the "Company") announced that it has restructured its relationship with Tekmira Pharmaceuticals Corporation ("TPC") and Protiva Biotherapeutics, Inc., a wholly-owned subsidiary of TPC ("Protiva," and, together with TPC, "Tekmira") with a new license agreement and that the parties have resolved all litigation between them pursuant to a settlement agreement. In addition, the Company has elected to independently manufacture its lipid nanoparticle ("LNP") -based RNAi therapeutic products and to buy-down certain future potential milestone payments and a significant portion of future potential royalties for its ALN-VSP, ALN-PCS, and ALN-TTR programs.
Cross-License Agreement
On November 12, 2012, the Company, Tekmira and Protiva entered into a
Cross-License Agreement (the "Cross-License Agreement"). In connection with the
execution of the Cross-License Agreement, the parties agreed to terminate
certain prior agreements, including: (i) the Amended and Restated License and
Collaboration dated May 30, 2008 between the Company and TPC (the "Prior TPC
Agreement"); (ii) the Amended and Restated Cross-License Agreement dated May 30,
2008 between the Company and Protiva (the "Prior Protiva Agreement," and,
together with the Prior TPC Agreement, the "Prior License Agreements"); and
(iii) the Development, Manufacturing and Supply Agreement dated January 2, 2009
between the Company and TPC (the "Manufacturing Agreement"). The Company and
Tekmira also agreed to supersede the rights and obligations under the
Supplemental Agreement dated July 27, 2009 between the Company, TPC, Protiva,
AlCana Technologies, Inc. ("AlCana") and the University of British Columbia
("UBC"), as between themselves, with the rights and obligations set forth in the
Cross-License Agreement.
Under the Cross-License Agreement, the parties have consolidated certain intellectual property related to LNP technology for the systemic delivery of RNAi therapeutics. Specifically, certain patents and patent applications, including the MC3 lipid family, will be assigned by the Company to Tekmira. The Company retains rights to use this intellectual property for the research, development and commercialization of RNAi therapeutic products, including the rights to sublicense this intellectual property on a product-by-product basis. Tekmira has also granted the Company a worldwide license to its LNP technology for the research, development and commercialization of LNP-based RNAi therapeutics, which license shall be exclusive for up to eight targets designated by the Company, and otherwise shall be non-exclusive. The Company has the right to sublicense on a product-by-product basis.
In addition, the Company has elected to buy out its manufacturing obligations to TPC with respect to its LNP-based pipeline programs. Pursuant to the terms of the Cross-License Agreement, the Company will make a one-time payment of $30 million to Tekmira for the termination of, and release of the Company from, all of the Company's obligations under the Manufacturing Agreement, including without limitation the obligations to obtain materials and/or services from TPC. The Company will also have the right to manufacture and have manufactured its LNP-based RNAi therapeutics, which right may be sublicensed to the Company's collaborators.
Consistent with the Prior License Agreements, under the Cross-License Agreement, Tekmira is eligible to receive up to an aggregate of $16.0 million in milestone payments for any future RNAi therapeutic formulated using Tekmira LNP technology, excluding ALN-VSP, ALN-PCS and ALN-TTR, together with low single-digit royalty payments on annual product sales, if any.
Under the Cross-License Agreement, Tekmira maintains the three exclusive and five non-exclusive licenses previously granted by the Company under the Prior License Agreements to research, develop and commercialize RNAi therapeutics directed to up to eight gene targets. In addition, the Company has granted Tekmira a non-exclusive license for two additional gene targets, on the same terms and conditions as the prior non-exclusive licenses. In connection with the Settlement Agreement described below, Tekmira also acquired from AlCana its existing options for three additional non-exclusive licenses, which have been included under the Cross-License Agreement. Tekmira may sublicense these rights on a product-by-product basis. The Company has waived its right under the Prior License Agreements to opt-in to the Tekmira research program directed to PLK1.
Under the Cross-License Agreement, the Company is eligible to receive from Tekmira up to an aggregate of $8.5 million in milestone payments for RNAi therapeutics directed to nine of the targets for which the Company has granted licenses to Tekmira, together with single-digit royalties on annual product sales, if any, of RNAi therapeutic products directed to all thirteen of the targets for which the Company has granted licenses to Tekmira.
The term of the Cross-License Agreement generally ends upon the expiration of the last-to-expire royalty term. Royalties are payable on a product-by-product and country-by-country basis commencing on the first commercial sale of a product in a country and continuing during any period in which (a) in the case of Company products, a valid claim within the Tekmira Royalty-Bearing Patents (as defined in the Cross-License Agreement) covers the applicable Company product in such country of sale, or (b) in the case of Tekmira products, a valid claim within the Company patents covers the applicable Tekmira product in such country of sale. The Company estimates that its fundamental RNAi patents covered under the Cross-License Agreement will expire both in and outside the United . . .
As more fully described above, on November 12, 2012, in connection with the restructuring of their relationship and the execution of the Cross-License Agreement, the Company, TPC and Protiva agreed to terminate the Prior TPC Agreement, the Prior Protiva Agreement and the Manufacturing Agreement.
On November 12, 2012, the Company announced that it has restructured its relationship with Tekmira and settled all outstanding litigation with Tekmira. As a result of the payments to
The full text of the press release issued in connection with the announcement is furnished as Exhibit 99.1 to this Current Report on Form 8-K.
The information in Item 7.01 and Item 9.01 of this Form 8-K (including Exhibit 99.1) shall not be deemed "filed" for purposes of Section 18 of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (the "Exchange Act"), or otherwise subject to the liabilities of that section, nor shall it be deemed incorporated by reference in any filing under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, or the Exchange Act, except as expressly set forth by specific reference in such a filing.
(d) Exhibits
99.1 Press Release dated November 12, 2012.
Forward-Looking Statements
Various statements in this release concerning the Company's future expectations, plans and prospects, including without limitation, statements regarding the Company's views with respect to the outcome of this settlement and the restructuring of its relationship with Tekmira, its expectations regarding the payment to and receipt from Tekmira of future milestones and royalties, its plans with respect to the manufacture of LNP-based RNAi therapeutics, its expected cash position as of December 31, 2012, and its expectations regarding its "Alnylam 5x15" product strategy, constitute forward-looking statements for the purposes of the safe harbor provisions under The Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Actual results may differ materially from those indicated by these forward-looking statements as a result of various important factors, including, without limitation, the Company's ability to successfully advance RNAi therapeutics, in particular ALN-VSP, ALN-PCS and ALN-TTR, resulting in the potential achievement of milestone and royalty events and thus the benefit to the Company of the buy-down of such payments, the Company's ability to manufacture or have manufactured its LNP-based RNAi therapeutics for clinical and commercial use, obtaining, maintaining and protecting intellectual property and the Company's dependence on Tekmira for the protection of and access to certain LNP intellectual property, obtaining regulatory approval for products, competition from others using technology similar to the Company's and others developing products for similar uses, the Company's ability to raise additional capital, and the Company's ability to establish and maintain strategic business alliances and new business initiatives, as well as those risks more fully discussed in the "Risk Factors" section of its most recent quarterly report on Form 10-Q on file with the Securities and Exchange Commission. In addition, any forward-looking statements represent the Company's views only as of today and should not be relied upon as representing its views as of any subsequent date. The Company does not assume any obligation to update any forward-looking statements.
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