Novartis and Alnylam to collaborate on pandemic flu treatments

The medicines manufacturer Novartis has announced that it is to team up with Alnylam Pharmaceuticals to develop therapeutics for pandemic flu.

RNA interference (RNAi) techniques will be investigated during the collaboration to see if it can be used to combat a flu pandemic.

RNAi is a technique that is able to target specific genes and silence or regulate their influence on the body.

The two companies say that they will put RNAi therapeutics for pandemic flu into initial clinical trials. If they prove successful regulatory approval will then be sought.

“The influenza virus, through rapid mutation and potential inter-species transfer, represents an epidemic threat to the citizens of all countries. Multiple therapies are likely to be required both to prevent and to treat influenza,” said Mark Fishman, president of the Novartis institutes for biomedical research.

The new RNAi therapeutic would have the potential to be adapted to combat new strains of the virus as they emerge, including the H5N1 strain currently causing concern.

The financial terms of the agreement were not disclosed.

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