Fighting It Out Over RNAi

The Max Planck Society for the Advancement of Science and Alnylam Pharmaceuticals are suing the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, the Whitehead Institute for Biomedical Research, and the University of Massachusetts, "alleging that they had 'usurped' inventions that 'rightfully belong to Max Planck,'" reports Science Insider. Our sister publication RNAi News adds that Alnylam says it has patent- and patent application-licensing agreements worth about $640 million though the field is moving away from using conventional siRNAs that is "raising questions about the ultimate value of the IP."