Alnylam Inaugurates New Biotech Facility in the Netherlands
Alnylam’s new office in Amsterdam highlights the potential of the Dutch life sciences and health sector
Two years after establishing its first presence in the Netherlands, Alnylam Pharmaceuticals has announced the opening of its new office in the Zuidas district of Amsterdam.
Alnylam’s continued investment and growth in the Netherlands are a testament to its confidence in the potential of the country. In 2018, the company identified the Netherlands as a growing hub for its European operations. Since then, Alnylam has made major investments in the Netherlands across its technical operations, supply chain and finance activities, including partnerships with local companies and academia. The Netherlands will also continue to be home to several Phase 3 clinical trial sites across Alnylam’s late-stage assets.
The Netherlands remained Alnylam’s top choice for establishing its new, state-of-the-art biotech facility for a number of reasons. For starters, the Amsterdam area and the country at-large offer top talent, infrastructure, an R&D ecosystem and world-class academic hospitals within the Dutch life sciences and health sector. With more than 3,100 life sciences companies – including 420 biopharmaceutical companies – the Netherlands boasts one of the densest and most innovative life sciences ecosystems in the world. Ranking No. 2 globally for patent applications in biotechnology, the Netherlands’ innovative potential is fueled by top-notch health and research institutes and more than 500 public-private partnerships between science, industry and government.
In addition, the Netherlands’ open, collaborative business environment allows highly innovative companies like Alnylam to thrive. Last year, Alnylam won the title of “Best Newcomer” at a network event hosted by NFIA and Health~Holland.
Furthermore, the biotech ecosystems of the Netherlands and the United States are strongly linked, thereby fostering growth for each other. This connection is exemplified by the Transatlantic Life Sciences Partnership established in 2019 between the Dutch government and the State of Massachusetts. Alnylam played a key role in the creation of the platform, which has contributed to regular dialogue, exchanges and collaboration between the life sciences and health communities of the Netherlands and Massachusetts.
“We are thrilled with our growing presence in the Netherlands, with scientific, medical, technical operations and commercial excellence,” said John Maraganore, President of Alnylam Pharmaceuticals. “This is why we have established a hub of our European operations in the Netherlands. The new office in Zuidas, Amsterdam, is testimony to Alnylam’s progress in the Dutch vibrant biotech ecosystem; its attractive environment makes it possible for companies with groundbreaking innovation to flourish.”
NFIA Commissioner Jeroen Nijland to speak at virtual celebration
To celebrate the opening, US-based Alnylam invited Jeroen Nijland, Commissioner the Netherlands Foreign Investment Agency (NFIA), to speak at a virtual event hosted by the company on Thursday, September 24. Commissioner Nijland joined a group of distinguished speakers including Alnylam’s Vice President Anant Murthy, U.S. Consul General Jennifer DeWitt Walsh and Rabobank’s Ester Barendregt. Commissioner Nijland provided his perspective on the Netherlands’ investment climate for life sciences and health. During the event, speakers exchanged views on the past, present and future of the Dutch biotech sector.
“We are delighted to see Alnylam reiterate its commitment to the Dutch life sciences sector by inaugurating their new office in Amsterdam,” said Commissioner Nijland. “We welcome their presence and invite others to join our driving groundbreaking medical innovation and benefit of our great talent pool and digital infrastructure in the Netherlands. Our internationally valued Life Sciences & Health ecosystem supports further partnerships, in Europe and beyond.”
Investing in the future of the Dutch biotech ecosystem
Today, stakeholders in the Netherlands’ biotech ecosystem are responding to COVID-19 by continuing to push the envelope and work toward future health solutions. Alnylam’s efforts to reimagine the future of biotech converge with the larger Dutch life sciences and health sector, which has been racing to find solutions to the coronavirus for the past several months.
In light of the pandemic, the forward-thinking Dutch are investing even more heavily into R&D and innovation. Life sciences companies and Dutch knowledge institutions are forming new public-private partnerships where pioneering research can flourish. Within this environment, biotech companies like Alnylam are ideally positioned to tackle global health challenges during the pandemic and beyond.
About Alnylam
Alnylam is a biopharmaceutical company leading the translation of RNA interference (RNAi) into a whole new class of innovative medicines with the potential to improve the lives of people afflicted with rare genetic, cardio-metabolic, and hepatic infectious diseases. Based on Nobel Prize-winning science, RNAi therapeutics represent a powerful, clinically validated approach for the treatment of a wide range of severe and debilitating diseases
Source: Alnylam
28 September 2020