Inex Pharmaceuticals Corporation, a Canadian biopharmaceutical company, has signed an exclusive research collaboration agreement with Alnylam Pharmaceuticals, Inc. to evaluate Alnylam's RNAi therapeutics with Inex's systemic liposomal delivery technology.

The work with Alnylam on the encapsulation and delivery of RNAi therapeutics builds on Inex's expertise in the delivery of oligonucleotides under its targeted immunotherapy platform, a release said.

The collaboration will evaluate multiple targets including apolipoprotein B (apoB), a protein involved in cholesterol metabolism. The Inex and Alnylam agreement will build on preliminary data published by Alnylam and its collaborators in Nature, the leading international journal of science, showing that the systemic delivery of an apoB RNAi therapeutic significantly reduced blood cholesterol levels.

Under the terms of the agreement, Alnylam has the option to execute a global exclusive license for specific RNAi therapeutic targets. The license agreement would include upfront license fees, future milestone payments and royalties as the products are commercialized. Alnylam also has the right to expand the option to negotiate license terms for additional targets.

The exercise of the license option is dependent on the successful completion of the research collaboration and the completion of Inex's spin-out of its Targeted Immunotherapy technology into Tekmira Pharmaceuticals Corporation. Tekmira would provide the required personnel and funding to support the research collaboration and license agreement.

Timothy M. Ruane, president and chief executive officer of Inex, said that combining Inex's expertise in the systemic delivery of oligonucleotides with Alnylam's leading position in RNAi therapeutics is a perfect fit. He said, "We look forward to building on Alnylam's promising data published in Nature and finalizing the spin-out of Tekmira to advance this collaboration to a full license agreement."

John Maraganore, president and chief executive officer of Alnylam Pharmaceuticals, said, "We are enthusiastic about the collaboration with INEX as brings together two companies with leadership positions in their respective fields. We look forward to working with INEX to advance the development of novel systemic RNAi therapeutics."

Inex expects to complete the spin-out of Tekmira late in the second quarter of 2006 after receiving necessary court and regulatory approvals. Tekmira will focus on advancing Inex's Targeted Immunotherapy technology and its lead product, INX-0167. The Targeted Immunotherapy technology is based on the encapsulation of immunostimulatory oligonucleotides in liposomes and combines the immunostimulatory properties of oligonucleotides into a single synthetic particle. Preclinical studies have demonstrated that INX-0167 enhances the number and potency of certain immune cells, including natural killer (NK) cells. The resultant increase in NK cell activity is important for the enhancement of the potency of monoclonal antibodies through a mechanism known as antibody-dependent cell mediated cytotoxicity (ADCC).