Health & Fitness
Health and Fitness
Health and Fitness
Tue, January 27, 2009 Alnylam Promotes Akshay Vaishnaw to Senior Vice President, Clinical Research
CAMBRIDGE, Mass.--([ BUSINESS WIRE ])--Alnylam Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (Nasdaq: ALNY), a leading RNAi therapeutics company, today announced that it has promoted Akshay Vaishnaw, M.D., Ph.D., to the role of Senior Vice President, Clinical Research. In this role, Dr. Vaishnaw will be responsible for continued leadership of the company's clinical activities; he will continue to report to John Maraganore, Alnylam's Chief Executive Officer.
"Over the past few years, Akshay has demonstrated tremendous leadership in his role at Alnylam and has been instrumental in the advancement of our pipeline," said John Maraganore, Ph.D., Chief Executive Officer of Alnylam. "These are exciting times for the field of RNAi therapeutics, as important scientific and clinical advancements are being made at a very rapid pace. With the continued development of our respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) infection program, initiation of our Phase I study for the treatment of liver cancers, and an additional program expected to enter the clinic later this year, Akshay's commitment to building a sustainable product pipeline of innovative medicines based on RNAi has been an invaluable asset to the company. We look forward to his continued leadership."
"It is such an exciting time to be working in the field of RNAi therapeutics. I am very proud of the progress we have made in translating the science of RNAi into the significant pipeline of development programs we have at Alnylam today," said Dr. Vaishnaw. "I am fortunate for the outstanding team we have in place, who are unwavering in their commitment to develop novel medicines for important diseases, such as RSV infection and liver cancer, amongst many others. The coming year promises to be an important one for the company, and for continued clinical development of RNAi therapeutics."
Dr. Vaishnaw joined Alnylam in February 2006 as Vice President, Clinical Research. At Alnylam, he has played a significant role in the pre-clinical and clinical advancement of the company's pipeline of RNAi therapeutics, including ALN-RSV01 for the treatment of RSV infection and ALN-VSP for the treatment of liver cancers, as well as other programs in the areas of hypercholesterolemia, Huntington's disease, and transthyretin (TTR) amyloidosis. Dr. Vaishnaw has also served as a member of Alnylam's Management Team. Prior to Alnylam, Akshay served as Senior Director, Translational Medicine at Biogen Idec. In the seven years he was there he was involved in many aspects of clinical research and business development, and led the effort for the approval of alefacept (AmeviveTM) for psoriasis. Dr. Vaishnaw's other responsibilities at Biogen Idec included initiating a cross-organizational effort in Translational Medicine across all phases of development and multiple therapeutic areas, participating on steering committees for external collaborations, and in M&A activity. Dr. Vaishnaw received his M.D. from the University of Wales College of Medicine, UK, with Distinctions in Pathology and Medicine, and his Ph.D. from the University of London, UK, in Molecular Immunology. He is a Member of the Royal College of Physicians, UK, and received an Executive M.B.A. from Harvard Business School. In addition, Dr. Vaishnaw has published papers in leading scientific journals and authored a number of textbook chapters relating to autoimmune disease.
About RNA Interference (RNAi)
RNAi (RNA interference) is a revolution in biology, representing a breakthrough in understanding how genes are turned on and off in cells, and a completely new approach to drug discovery and development. Its discovery has been heralded as "a major scientific breakthrough that happens once every decade or so," and represents one of the most promising and rapidly advancing frontiers in biology and drug discovery today which was awarded the 2006 Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine. RNAi is a natural process of gene silencing that occurs in organisms ranging from plants to mammals. By harnessing the natural biological process of RNAi occurring in our cells, the creation of a major new class of medicines, known as RNAi therapeutics, is on the horizon. RNAi therapeutics target the cause of diseases by potently silencing specific messenger RNAs (mRNAs), thereby preventing disease-causing proteins from being made. RNAi therapeutics have the potential to treat disease and help patients in a fundamentally new way.
About Alnylam Pharmaceuticals
Alnylam is a biopharmaceutical company developing novel therapeutics based on RNA interference, or RNAi. The company is applying its therapeutic expertise in RNAi to address significant medical needs, many of which cannot effectively be addressed with small molecules or antibodies, the current major classes of drugs. Alnylam is leading the translation of RNAi as a new class of innovative medicines with peer-reviewed research efforts published in the world's top scientific journals including Nature, Nature Medicine, and Cell. The company is leveraging these capabilities to build a broad pipeline of RNAi therapeutics; its most advanced program is in Phase II human clinical trials for the treatment of respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) infection and is partnered with Cubist and Kyowa Hakko. In addition, the company is developing RNAi therapeutics for the treatment of a wide range of disease areas, including liver cancers, hypercholesterolemia, Huntington's disease, and TTR amyloidosis. The company's leadership position in fundamental patents, technology, and know-how relating to RNAi has enabled it to form major alliances with leading companies including Medtronic, Novartis, Biogen Idec, Roche, Takeda, Kyowa Hakko, and Cubist. To reflect its outlook for key scientific, clinical, and business initiatives, Alnylam established "RNAi 2010" in January 2008 which includes the company's plan to significantly expand the scope of delivery solutions for RNAi therapeutics, have four or more programs in clinical development, and to form four or more new major business collaborations, all by the end of 2010. Alnylam is a joint owner of Regulus Therapeutics, a joint venture focused on the discovery, development, and commercialization of microRNA therapeutics. Founded in 2002, Alnylam maintains headquarters in Cambridge, Massachusetts. For more information, please visit [ http://www.alnylam.com ].
AlnylamForward-Looking Statements
Various statements in this release concerning Alnylam's future expectations, plans and prospects, 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 the company's ability to successfully research and develop products, 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 Alnylam's views only as of today and should not be relied upon as representing its views as of any subsequent date. Alnylam does not assume any obligation to update any forward-looking statements.
