Zuidas: NEW HUB FOR More proof that Zuidas is fast becoming an exciting life sciences hub, is the recent arrival of US-based Alnylam Pharmaceuticals, a global biopharmaceutical company whose new office is next to the EMA. Based on Nobel Prizewinning science, the biotech leader has a revolutionary approach to the treatment of rare diseases. Now, it’s investing millions in the Netherlands as a growing home-base for its European activities. Hello Zuidas caught up with Anant Murthy, general manager for the MidSize Market Region, to learn more. What kind of company is Alnylam? Alnylam was founded in 2002 based on the Nobel Prizewinning discovery of RNA interference. DNA, which is our genetic code, produces RNA, and RNA produces proteins we need to survive. Proteins also cause disease. If somebody has a genetic disease, typically the RNA is overproducing, underproducing, or misproducing some protein. The discovery that our bodies have a natural way of regulating RNA opened a path to creating medicines that let us turn production of some proteins on or off – almost like a light switch. After years of biochemistry research, our first medicine was approved in 2018 and now is available around the world.
Is this therapy used for one disease, or is the application broader? There are many diseases where RNAi can offer benefit. Our first medicine targets amyloidosis, where a gene mutation causes amyloid ANANT MURTHY
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deposits in nerves and organs. Early symptoms are numbness, vision loss, then heart and gastrointestinal problems and eventually
