ALNYLAM REPORTS PROGRESS IN STRATEGIC ALLIANCE WITH MERCK

Alnylam Pharmaceuticals, a leading therapeutic RNA interference (RNAi) company, has received a $7 million milestone payment from Merck in connection with the September 2003 strategic collaboration between the two companies to develop RNAi technology and therapeutics. The achievement that triggered this milestone payment was the development by Alnylam of in vivo RNAi technology to a prespecified level of performance. The milestone payment included a $5 million equity investment at a price of $7.04 per share and $2 million in cash.

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