Who: Alnylam Pharmaceuticals, Inc. is a leading therapeutics company that specializes in ribonucleic acid interference therapy (RNAi therapy)
What: ALN-VSP, developed by Tekmira Pharmaceuticals Corporation, is an RNAi therapeutic drug for the treatment of various liver cancers and tumors. The drug, which targets both tumor proliferation and growth via the kinesin spindle protein and vascular endothelial growth factor, has just been approved by the Food and Drug Administration to begin Phase I human clinical trials. This mechanism could be an alternative to chemotherapy and radiation therapy for those suffering from liver cancer.
Future: RNAi therapeutics can change the direction in which doctors and scientists treat disease and could help patients by offering a new path of medication not involving small molecules or antibodies, two major classes of today's drugs. Alnylam is testing RNAi therapy for Huntington's diseases and high cholesterol; other researchers are focusing on macular degeneration, muscular dystrophy and human immunodeficiency virus.
-compiled by Fiza Hashmi
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