Alnylam gets $7.5m funding to fight bio threats

Alnylam Pharmaceuticals Inc. received $7.5 million in continued government funding to develop antiviral therapy against biological threats, including the Ebola virus, the Cambridge company said today.

The National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Disease, part of the National Institutes of Health, has continued the funding of its 2006 contract with Alnylam for an RNAi anti-viral therapy to treat the virus which poses potential a bioterrorism risk. Ebola virus can cause a severe, often fatal infection.

To date, Alnylam has received more than $63 million in federal contracts for biodefense work, said Barry Greene, president and chief operating officer of the company.

In September 2006, Alnylam won a federal contract for up to $23 million over a four-year period to develop anti-viral drugs targeting the Ebola virus. To date, the government has committed to paying up to $14.2 million for the first two years, and as a result of the program's progress, the government committed to today's announcement for year three of the contract.

Alnylam produces drug candidates and sends them to the United States Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases for testing against the virus.
(By Elizabeth Campbell, Globe correspondent)