Roche In $1B Alliance With Alnylam On RNAi

Roche Holding AG (RHHBY) Monday entered an alliance worth up to $1 billion with Alnylam Pharmaceuticals Inc. (ALNY) of the U.S. in which the Swiss drugmaker obtains access to the U.S. biopharmaceutical company's technology platform for developing treatments based on RNA interference.

Roche, based in Basel, said it will pay Alnylam $331 million upfront, including a cash payment and an equity investment of $42.5 million, which represents a stake of just under 5% of Alnylam's outstanding shares.

The close of the agreements, including Roche's purchase of Alnylam shares and purchase of Alnylam's site in Germany, is subject to certain regulatory approvals and is expected within around 30 days.

RNA interference, or RNAi, is considered one of the hottest new areas of drug research. It represents breakthrough in understanding how genes are turned on and off in cells. RNAi was the basis for last year's Nobel Prize in medicine, as it is seen offering a completely new approach to drug discovery and development.

Roche's deal follows on the heels of AstraZeneca's (AZN) deal with U.K.-based Silence Therapeutics Plc (SLN.LN), announced on Friday and valued at as much as GBP200 million. Last fall, Merck & Co. (MRK) agreed to pay $1.1 billion for Sirna Theruapeutics Inc. of the U.S. to get access to RNAi technology.