SOUTH SAN FRANCISCO, Calif., March 6, 2026, 03:53 PST
- Tenaya and Alnylam agreed on a cardiovascular target-discovery pact worth up to $1.13 billion. 1
- Tenaya can receive up to $10 million upfront plus research reimbursement, while Alnylam will handle later development and commercialization. 1
- Tenaya shares closed up 40.9% on March 5 after the deal was announced. 2
Tenaya Therapeutics said it had struck a collaboration with Alnylam Pharmaceuticals worth up to $1.13 billion to find new genetic targets for cardiovascular drugs, sending the clinical-stage biotech’s shares sharply higher. Tenaya shares closed up 40.9% at $0.8193 on Thursday after the March 5 announcement. 1
The timing matters for Tenaya. In January, the company said cash from a $60 million December stock-and-warrant sale would fund operations into mid-2027, and Chief Executive Faraz Ali said the aim was to get through “key clinical milestones in 2026.” The same update pointed to first-half data from TN-201 and TN-401, while separate disclosures showed Tenaya has until July 27 to regain compliance with Nasdaq’s $1 minimum bid rule. 3
It matters for Alnylam too. The company is already leaning on Amvuttra, which brought in $2.31 billion in 2025 sales, to deepen its cardiovascular business. In transthyretin amyloid cardiomyopathy, or ATTR-CM, a heart disease linked to amyloid buildup in the heart, Alnylam faces Pfizer’s Vyndaqel and BridgeBio’s Attruby. 4
Under the agreement, the companies will nominate up to 15 targets and run a 24-month validation effort under a joint research plan. Alnylam will reimburse Tenaya for employee and out-of-pocket research costs, then take over development, manufacturing, regulatory work and any eventual commercialization. 1
The headline number is not all cash. The SEC filing shows Tenaya’s upfront payment tops out at $10 million and can be cut by $500,000 for as many as eight company-nominated targets that do not meet agreed standards and are not advanced. The rest of the potential payout sits in development, regulatory and sales milestones. 1
Ali said the pact reflected Tenaya’s “rigorous science.” In the March 5 release, he said the company planned to use its target-finding platform with Alnylam’s expertise to pursue new heart-disease medicines. 5
Tenaya’s own pipeline stays the main watch point. TN-201 targets MYBPC3-associated hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, a genetic disease that thickens the heart muscle, while TN-401 is being studied in PKP2-associated arrhythmogenic right ventricular cardiomyopathy, which can trigger dangerous rhythm problems. The company said in January it expected first-half updates from both studies, and the TN-201 trial resumed after the FDA lifted a clinical hold in December. 3
But a lot could still unravel. The March 4 filing says Alnylam can end the collaboration for any or no reason with notice, and most of the $1.13 billion depends on later milestones that may never be reached. Tenaya is also still trying to keep its stock above $1 long enough to satisfy Nasdaq. 1
Management is scheduled to appear at the Leerink Partners Global Healthcare Conference in Miami on March 9, where investors will likely press for more on the alliance and on those 2026 readouts. 6
