Alnylam Announces Updates to Company's Board of Directors Supportive of Transition Towards Commercial Stage

CAMBRIDGE, Mass.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--

Alnylam Pharmaceuticals, Inc. ALNY, the leading RNAi therapeutics company, announced today that Michael Bonney, current Board member and former chief executive of Cubist Pharmaceuticals, has been appointed as Chairman effective January 1, 2016. Founding investor and current Chairman John Clarke will remain on the Board as a Director. Alnylam also announced today that David Pyott has been elected to the company's Board. Mr. Pyott is former chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Allergan and will join the Alnylam Board effective immediately.

"We are indebted to John Clarke, one of our company's founding investors, for his service as Chairman for the past thirteen years and now welcome Mike Bonney to his newly appointed role leading the Board through our transition toward a commercial stage company. Mike led the transition of Cubist from a research and development company to a successful commercial enterprise, and we welcome the leadership he'll bring to our Board," said John Maraganore, Ph.D., Chief Executive Officer at Alnylam. "We're also very pleased to welcome David Pyott to our Board. David is a highly accomplished industry leader who grew Allergan exponentially during his 17 year tenure. David's commercial expertise and experience in organizational scaling will be invaluable to Alnylam as we become a commercial biopharmaceutical company."

Mr. Bonney served as Chief Executive Officer and a member of the Board of Directors of Cubist Pharmaceuticals Inc. (Cubist, a subsidiary of Merck & Co., Inc. as of January 2015) from June 2003 until his retirement on December 31, 2014. From January 2002 to June 2003, Mr. Bonney served as Cubist's President and Chief Operating Officer, and from 1995 to 2001, he held various positions of increasing responsibility at Biogen, Inc. Prior to joining Biogen, Mr. Bonney held various positions at Zeneca Pharmaceuticals. Since 2014, Mr. Bonney has been a Director of Alnylam Pharmaceuticals, Inc. and serves on the audit committee. Mr. Bonney is a Director of the Celgene Corporation, the Whitehead Institute for Biomedical Research, and the Gulf of Maine Research Institute, and was a Director of NPS Pharmaceuticals, Inc. until its sale to Shire plc in February 2015, where he was a member of the audit and compensation committees and chaired the governance committee. He chairs the board of trustees of Bates College and is also a trustee of the Tekla complex of life sciences and healthcare dedicated funds, where he serves on the valuation committee and chairs the governance and nominating committees. Mr. Bonney received a B.A. in Economics from Bates College.

Mr. Pyott served as CEO of Allergan from 1998 to 2015, where he was recognized by the Harvard Business Review as one of "The 100 Best Performing CEO's in the World." During his tenure, Allergan became the fastest growing ophthalmic company, and a global leader in medical aesthetics, medical dermatology, neurology, and urology. Prior to Allergan, Mr. Pyott served as the Head of the Novartis Nutrition Division and as a member of the Executive Committee of Switzerland-based Novartis AG. Mr. Pyott is Lead Director and a member of the Board of Directors of Avery Dennison Corporation and a member of the Supervisory Board of Royal Philips in the Netherlands. He is Vice Chairman of the Board of Trustees of Chapman University, a member of the Governing Board of the London Business School, President of the International Council of Ophthalmology Foundation, and a member of the Advisory Board of the Foundation of the American Academy of Ophthalmology. Mr. Pyott holds a Diploma in International and European Law from the Europa Institute at the University of Amsterdam, a Master of Arts degree from the University of Edinburgh, and a Master of Business Administration degree from the London Business School.

Mr. Pyott's appointment brings Alnylam's Board to eleven members, of which ten are independent.

About Alnylam Pharmaceuticals
Alnylam is a biopharmaceutical company developing novel therapeutics based on RNA interference, or RNAi. The company is leading the translation of RNAi as a new class of innovative medicines. Alnylam's pipeline of investigational RNAi therapeutics is focused in 3 Strategic Therapeutic Areas (STArs): Genetic Medicines, with a broad pipeline of RNAi therapeutics for the treatment of rare diseases; Cardio-Metabolic Disease, with a pipeline of RNAi therapeutics toward genetically validated, liver-expressed disease targets for unmet needs in cardiovascular and metabolic diseases; and Hepatic Infectious Disease, with a pipeline of RNAi therapeutics that address the major global health challenges of hepatic infectious diseases. In early 2015, Alnylam launched its "Alnylam 2020" guidance for the advancement and commercialization of RNAi therapeutics as a whole new class of innovative medicines. Specifically, by the end of 2020, Alnylam expects to achieve a company profile with 3 marketed products, 10 RNAi therapeutic clinical programs – including 4 in late stages of development – across its 3 STArs. The company's demonstrated commitment to RNAi therapeutics has enabled it to form major alliances with leading companies including Merck, Medtronic, Novartis, Biogen, Roche, Takeda, Kyowa Hakko Kirin, Cubist, GlaxoSmithKline, Ascletis, Monsanto, The Medicines Company, and Genzyme, a Sanofi company. In addition, Alnylam holds an equity position in Regulus Therapeutics Inc., a company focused on discovery, development, and commercialization of microRNA therapeutics. Alnylam scientists and collaborators have published their research on RNAi therapeutics in over 200 peer-reviewed papers, including many in the world's top scientific journals such as Nature, Nature Medicine, Nature Biotechnology, Cell, New England Journal of Medicine, and The Lancet. Founded in 2002, Alnylam maintains headquarters in Cambridge, Massachusetts. For more information about Alnylam's pipeline of investigational RNAi therapeutics, please visit www.alnylam.com.

Alnylam Forward Looking Statements
Various statements in this release concerning Alnylam's future expectations, plans and prospects, including without limitation, Alnylam's views with respect to the potential for RNAi therapeutics, expectations regarding its STAr pipeline growth strategy, and its plans regarding commercialization of RNAi therapeutics, constitute forward-looking statements for the purposes of the safe harbor provisions under The Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Actual results may differ materially from those indicated by these forward-looking statements as a result of various important factors, including, without limitation, Alnylam's ability to discover and develop novel drug candidates and delivery approaches, successfully demonstrate the efficacy and safety of its drug candidates, the pre-clinical and clinical results for its product candidates, which may not be replicated or continue to occur in other subjects or in additional studies or otherwise support further development of product candidates, actions of regulatory agencies, which may affect the initiation, timing and progress of clinical trials, obtaining, maintaining and protecting intellectual property, Alnylam's ability to enforce its patents against infringers and defend its patent portfolio against challenges from third parties, obtaining regulatory approval for products, competition from others using technology similar to Alnylam's and others developing products for similar uses, Alnylam's ability to manage operating expenses, Alnylam's ability to obtain additional funding to support its business activities and establish and maintain strategic business alliances and new business initiatives, Alnylam's dependence on third parties for development, manufacture, marketing, sales and distribution of products, the outcome of litigation, and unexpected expenditures, as well as those risks more fully discussed in the "Risk Factors" filed with Alnylam's most recent Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and in other filings that Alnylam makes with the SEC. In addition, any forward-looking statements represent Alnylam's views only as of today and should not be relied upon as representing its views as of any subsequent date. Alnylam explicitly disclaims any obligation to update any forward-looking statements.

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