By Christopher P. Singer —

In an August 1, 2007 press release, Alnylam Pharmaceuticals, Inc. announced that the European Patent Office has issued a Rule 51(4) notification for European Patent 1 407 044 ("Tuschl II") which relates to RNA interference (RNAi) technology.  In the same release, Alnylam also stated that the corresponding application in Australia has been granted (AU 2002235744).  Alnylam acquired it’s interest in this patent portfolio through a license agreement with the Max Planck Society, through the licensing agent of the society, Max Planck Innovation GmbH.

According to the press release, the European Patent is expected to issue within the next six months, and covers compositions, methods, and uses of small interfering RNAs (siRNAs).  More particularly, Alynlam’s website provide a PDF document of 25 claims here, which the press release indicates are the claims that have been granted.  Briefly, Alnylam states in the press release that the claims include:

• siRNAs with a double stranded region formed from two RNA strands with a length of 19-23 nucleotides;
• one or more 3′-overhangs at the ends of the double-stranded molecule;
• compositions with chemical modifications on the 3′-end of the siRNA to protect against degradation and/or the use of one or more nucleotide modification, such as 2′-O-Me or 2′-F, without any limitation to the number of such modifications; and
• the use and pharmaceutical compositions of such an siRNA molecule to modulate the function of mammalian or pathogen-derived genes both in vitro and in vivo.