Pre-market: Alnylam Pharmaceuticals signs $1 billiob deal
Shares of Alnylam Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (Nasdaq: ALNY) are rising following news this morning that the Cambridge, Mass.-based company has entered into an alliance with Roche Holding Ltd., according to which Roche obtains a non-exclusive license to Alnylam’s technology platform for developing RNAi therapeutics. Alnylam will receive $331 million upfront. The agreement could be worth more than $1 billion when factoring in future milestone payments. RNAi is a natural mechanism that the body uses to inhibit expression of certain genes. Shares are up $9.19, or 60%, to $24.39.
Shares of Novavax Inc. (Nasdaq: NVAX) are rising following news this morning that the Rockville, Md.-based pharmaceutical company has signed a non-exclusive, worldwide license agreement with industry giant Wyeth (NYSE: WYE) to obtain rights to a patent application covering virus-like particle technology for use in human vaccines in certain fields of use. The stock is up $0.02, or 1%, to $3.07.
Metalink Ltd. (Nasdaq: MTLK), an Israeli maker of digital subscriber line chipsets, announced this morning that its partnering with a group of five Chinese consumer electronics companies to provide an advanced High Definition TV Decoder Platform for wireless home networks. Shares are up $0.68, or 12%, to $6.53.
Shares of Comtech Group, Inc. (Nasdaq: COGO) are higher following news this morning that the Chinese seller of component parts for electronic devices and equipment has signed a deal to provide customized module solutions to support a range of handsets to be rolled out by China Unicom, the second largest wireless operator in China. The stock is up $0.16, or 1%, to $17.10.
Littleton, Colo.-based Ascent Solar Technologies Inc. (Nasdaq: ASTI) has received over $20 million in funding, the developer of thin-film photovoltaic modules said this morning. Shares are up $0.46, or 5%, to $9.96.
Shares of Xinhua Finance Media Ltd. (Nasdaq: XFML) are higher following news this morning that the Chinese media company forecasts revenues for the second quarter ended June 30, 2007 to be between $27 million and $29 million, exceeding previously stated revenue guidance of $23 million. Analysts are looking for revenues of $23.39 million. The stock is up $0.91, or 12%, to $8.62.
