United States-based Alnylam Pharmaceuticals has forged a discovery collaboration worth up to $1.23 billion (€1.06 billion) with cardiovascular disease specialist Tenaya Therapeutics, according to a Pharmaceutical Technology report.

Through the partnership, Alnylam will harness Tenaya's capabilities to identify up to 15 novel genetic targets involved in heart disease. Alnylam will pay up to $10 million (€8.6 million) upfront whilst pledging up to $1.13 billion (€970 million) in development and commercial milestone payments linked to any drugs created through the partnership.

Tenaya bears responsibility to yield targets meeting Alnylam's standards, as the $10 million upfront fee could be subject to a $500,000 (€429.430) reduction per candidate for up to eight nominated targets that do not meet criteria.

Once targets are identified, Alnylam and Tenaya will collaborate for approximately two years to mutually validate them through both in vitro and in vivo methods. Alnylam will reimburse Tenaya for full-time employees and out-of-pocket costs and expenses, according to a Securities and Exchange Commission filing.

After Tenaya fulfils its obligations, Alnylam aims to harness these targets to create disease-modifying therapies for heart disease. Alnylam will assume responsibility for subsequent development and commercialisation of any drugs created from identified targets.

The deal could see Alnylam further its presence in the cardiovascular market following recent United States and European Union approval for its silent interfering RNA therapy, Amvuttra (vutrisiran), in ATTR amyloidosis with cardiomyopathy. GlobalData forecasts Amvuttra will generate $7.8 billion (€6.7 billion) for the company in 2031, making it Alnylam's most lucrative asset.

Alnylam is also running late-stage clinical trials including the Phase III HELIOS-B study evaluating vutrisiran in ATTR-CM and the Phase III ZENITH trial assessing zilebesiran for hypertension treatment alongside collaborator Roche.

Explore detailed analysis of Alnylam Pharmaceuticals' cardiovascular collaboration and drug development strategy in the full story.