Alnylam and Benitec

Alnylam (ALNY) is a $5.1B company and Benitec Biopharma (BTEBY, BNIKF) is a $120M company. Both are biothech companies working in the field of RNAi (RiboNucleic Acid Interference). Both have access to a wide patent estate: Alnylam’s estate covering Small Interfering RNA (siRNA) and Benitec’s estate covering DNA Directed RNAi (ddRNAi and shRNA).

In theory they are competitors, each looking to silence genes which produce harmful levels of proteins. However, in reality this competition has not been manifest. Alnylam has concentrated its pipeline efforts primarily on rare diseases of the liver (TTR Amyloidosis, Complement Mediated Disease, Porphyria and Hypercholesterolemia) whereas Benitec has focused on a broader range of more mainstream diseases (Hepatitis C, Hepatitis B, Cancer Related Pain, Non­Small Cell Lung Cancer and Age Related Macular Degeneration).

Both companies have partnered with others to develop treatments for disease outside of their own pipelines. It is noteworthy that, to date, Alnylam’s partnership deals have been of significantly greater value than those of Benitec and this is one reason for the disparity in market capitalisation.

But is this degree of separation about to change?
Alnylam has already included Hepatitis B (HBV) in its pipeline, which is in direct competition with Benitec’s program, and it has now applied for a patent to cover Hepatitis C (HCV).

Alnylam’s HBV treatment will involve subcutaneous injections (number to be determined). Benitec’s treatment will involve a single, intravenous injection. Neither party has firmed up on the genetic sequences that they expect to target.

Benitec hopes to piggyback on the experience it gains in the trial of its TT­034 treatment for HCV in order to fast­track its HBV candidate. However, in order to do this and remain in the HBV race, it has to finalise its target sequences first as the TT­034 experience will help mostly in the area of delivery; the HBV ddRNAi molecule design has already been modified because of improvements in the design of TT­033, leading to TT­034. Benitec’s recent capital raising should provide them with the funds to complete this discovery work.

Alnylam says that its pre­clinical, HBV work is progressing well and it intends to be in clinical trial in twelve months or so.

Alnylam is not the only siRNA developer of a treatment for HBV, Arrowhead Research (ARWR) is already in clinical trials for its treatment (ARC­520). With Alnylam’s acquisition of Merck’s (MRK) RNAi business it obtained new patents (the MacSwiggen patents) which have direct implications for the development of siRNA therapies for HBV. Some commentators believe that this has new and significant impact on Arrowhead going forward but the company itself believes it has access to all the IP it needs.

Alnylam, while applying for a patent to cover a target for HCV, is yet to announce a program to develop a treatment for the disease. It does have an interest in Regulus Therapeutics (RGLS) which is developing a microRNA drug to treat HCV. This may mean that Alnylam won’t develop a candidate itself but will seek to obtain royalties if it considers that others are using its IP.

Do these latest developments mean that Alnylam and Benitec are about to go head­to­head, target sequence to target sequence, patent to patent? Well maybe but maybe not.

As the fields of RNAi and gene therapy evolve, new technologies beyond siRNA and ddRNAi are being developed. One such development may threaten Alnylam’s Hypercholesterolemia program.
This new treatment would be a once only injection as opposed to Alynlam’s monthly (or at best quarterly) injection.

And this is where it gets interesting.

Alnylam and Benitec have crossing licensing agreements where each company has the right to develop up to five, mutually agreed programs using the other’s technology. In the case of
Hypercholesterolemia, Alnylam’s acquisition of Merck’s RNAi assets came with an advanced pre­clinical treatment for Hypercholesterolemia. So, in theory, if Alnylam wanted to thwart the threat of this new treatment it could make arrangements with Benitec to replace its own monthly injection program with a one shot ddRNAi treatment. As this ex­Merck program is well in advance of the new comer, this may well be a good strategy for Alnylam.

In terms of market capitalisation, Benitec certainly has some catching up to do but in terms of IP and technology it is certainly on par, and arguably, in advance of Alnylam. As their paths are now set to cross and as the need to secure IP becomes more important as the commercialisation of RNAi products draws closer to a reality, it remains to be seen whether or not this relationship will turn into an adversarial one or one of mutual co­operation.

I for one would hate to see potentially life changing medicines being held up because of legal disputes over whose IP takes priority. Hopefully these two doyens of the RNAi field can establish their place in the market without the need make lawyers rich and patients wait. If they cannot settle any differences outside of court, then maybe, just maybe, one of the newer developments in RNAi and gene therapy will swamp them both and that would not be good for either set of shareholders.

This entry was posted in Alnylam, Benitec, Rnai on by .

About pannobhaso

A researcher into gene silencing as a technology for improving the lives of those suffering from incurable diseases. Benitec Biopharma is my primary investment in this technology as ddRNAi offers one-time treatments for a broad range of these diseases.

14 thoughts on “Alnylam and Benitec

  1. Pannobhaso

    When will be BLT/BNIKF = ALNY ?

    Good question. To get to a $5B company Benitec will have to secure a fair amount of non-diluting capital in order for investors to pay that much for the shares. While looking to the pipeline for a buy-in from big pharma is one obvious route for this money, I think an “out of the square” possibility is the merger of Benitec with a complementary company. Imagine if Benitec merged with Gradalis. If Gradalis was a public company, my guess is it would be worth billions right now, so a merger would automatically see the combined entity match the market cap of Alnylam.

    Right now, there is a lot of movement in the biotech field and so I think it is entirely possible that some activity outside the development of our pipeline is in the making. Time will tell.

    Benitec is at the Bio conference this week. I wonder if we will get a briefing on the conversations had at this networking event?

  2. RNAi

    Thanks Pannobhaso.
    I heard Benitec will be able to find out, at least safety data of 1st dosing in 3 weeks.
    It is now 3 weeks, are they willing to revel that info with stack holders.
    That may move stock price up!
    Hope everything is good so far.

  3. RNAi

    Benitec is at the Bio conference this week that is interesting. Some good news can move stock.
    We all are waiting for that……

  4. CJ

    Nice article! Genetic Programming is Interesting and Powerful.

    Can you imagine decades in the future… maybe RNAi will only be a single word in the language(s) of genetic engineering for the building blocks of biological design? Anyone know the genome editing cholesterol dropper?

    Novartis also has a deal with GenVec to address hearing and balance treatments. Any opinions?

    Interesting Article Referenced!

  5. handuk microfiber

    Hi there, for all time i used to check web site posts here in the
    early hours in the daylight, as i like to gain knowledge of more and more.

  6. muaythai-sport

    Thanks for ones marvelous posting! I really enjoyed reading it, you will be a great author.I will make sure to bookmark your blog and may come back later in
    life. I want to encourage you to definitely continue
    your great job, have a nice morning!

Comments are closed.