Alnylam´s Worldwide First RNAi Medication is based on Max Planck Technology

Hereditary transthyretin (TTR)-mediated amyloidosis (hATTR) is an inherited, progressively debilitating, and often fatal disease caused by mutations in the TTR gene. TTR protein is primarily produced in the liver and is normally a carrier of vitamin A. Mutations in the TTR gene cause abnormal amyloid proteins to accumulate and damage body organs and tissue, such as the peripheral nerves and heart, resulting in intractable peripheral sensory neuropathy, autonomic neuropathy, and/or cardiomyopathy, as well as other disease manifestations. hATTR amyloidosis represents a major unmet medical need with significant morbidity and mortality. The median survival is 4.7 years following diagnosis. Until now, people living with hATTR amyloidosis in the U.S. had no FDA-approved treatment options.

RNAi (RNA interference) is a natural cellular process of gene silencing that represents one of the most promising and rapidly advancing frontiers in biology and drug development today. Its discovery has been heralded as “a major scientific breakthrough that happens once every decade or so,” and was recognized with the award of the 2006 Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine. Thomas Tuschl and his colleagues at the Max Planck Institute for Biophysical Chemistry in Göttingen succeeded in demonstrating that this mechanism also functions in mammals and, therefore, in humans. Alnylam is the exclusive licensee of the therapeutic and diagnostic application of Max Planck Society´s groundbreaking patents, which are a central component of Alnylam’s technology portfolio for the development, manufacture, and marketing of RNAi therapeutics. Small interfering RNA (siRNA), the molecules that mediate RNAi and comprise Alnylam's RNAi therapeutic platform, function upstream of today’s medicines by potently silencing messenger RNA (mRNA) – the genetic precursors – that encode for disease-causing proteins, thus preventing them from being made. This is a revolutionary approach in developing medicines to improve the care of patients with genetic and other diseases.

The FDA approval of ONPATTRO was based on positive results from the randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, global Phase 3 APOLLO study, the largest-ever study in hATTR amyloidosis patients with polyneuropathy. Results from the APOLLO study were published in the July 5, 2018, issue of The New England Journal of Medicine. In APOLLO, the safety and efficacy of ONPATTRO were evaluated in a diverse, global population of hATTR amyloidosis patients in 19 countries, with a total of 39 TTR mutations.