Alnylam Pharmaceuticals

Alnylam Pharmaceuticals is a Cambridge biopharmaceutical company that pioneered RNA interference, or RNAi, therapeutics. These medicines use a natural process inside cells to silence the genes that cause or contribute to disease, stopping specific proteins from being made and treating illness at its source. Its pipeline of investigational RNAi therapies targets both rare and more common diseases across several therapeutic areas, with patients such as people living with hATTR amyloidosis at the center of its work.

Alnylam was founded in Cambridge on June 14, 2002, by Phillip Sharp, David Bartel, Thomas Tuschl, Paul Schimmel and Phillip Zamore, building on the 1998 discovery of RNA interference by Andrew Fire and Craig Mello. In 2018 the company won approval for the world’s first RNAi therapeutic, and five more Alnylam-developed medicines have been approved since then. It remains an independent company and describes itself as the leader in its field.

What to Know

• The name comes from Alnilam, the bright center star in Orion’s belt.
• The company spells out the pronunciation of its name as AL-NY-LAM.
• Patient stories it shares include people living with acute intermittent porphyria and primary hyperoxaluria type 1.
• It is a member of the Cambridge Chamber of Commerce.