Alnylam Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (Nasdaq: ALNY), the leading RNAi therapeutics company, announced today the appointment of a veteran healthcare leader, Colleen Reitan, to Alnylam’s Board of Directors, effective June 1, 2018. Ms. Reitan was the prior President of Plan Operations of Health Care Service Corporation (HCSC), the largest customer-owned health insurer in the United States and an independent licensee of Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association.

“We are thrilled to welcome Colleen to our Board at a turning point in Alnylam’s history. As we pivot towards commercialization, Colleen’s deep understanding of the healthcare payer landscape will provide an invaluable perspective to our Board,” said John Maraganore, Ph.D. Chief Executive Officer of Alnylam. “We look forward to the insights Colleen will bring to the Board at this exciting moment in our journey to advance RNAi therapeutics for patients in need.”

“It’s a pleasure to join a company with such a strong sense of purpose and at the cusp of a transition from an R&D-focused organization to a commercial-stage organization with the capability to make innovative medicines available to underserved patients around the world,” said Colleen Reitan. “I hope to offer a unique perspective on Alnylam’s roadmap to commercialization, drawing from my experiences in the health insurance sector. Having a deep insight of payer perspective will be critical to Alnylam’s commercial strategy, and is something that has been a focal point of my career.”

Colleen Reitan is a seasoned corporate leader and board member. Prior to her role as President of Operations at HCSC, she served as the company’s Chief Operating Officer. Previously, Ms. Reitan served as President and Chief Operating Officer of Blue Cross Blue Shield of Minnesota, and as a director on the boards of Prime Therapeutics, Availity, Federal Employee Board of Managers, and MEDecision.

About Alnylam Pharmaceuticals
Alnylam (Nasdaq: ALNY) is leading the translation of RNA interference (RNAi) into a whole new class of innovative medicines with the potential to transform 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. Founded in 2002, Alnylam is delivering on a bold vision to turn scientific possibility into reality, with a robust discovery platform and deep pipeline of investigational medicines, including four product candidates that are in late-stage development. Looking forward, Alnylam will continue to execute on its “Alnylam 2020” strategy of building a multi-product, commercial-stage biopharmaceutical company with a sustainable pipeline of RNAi-based medicines to address the needs of patients who have limited or inadequate treatment options. Alnylam employs over 800 people in the U.S. and Europe and is headquartered in Cambridge, MA. For more information about our people, science and pipeline, please visit www.alnylam.com and engage with us on Twitter at @Alnylam or on LinkedIn.

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 global commercialization of investigational RNAi therapeutics, and expectations regarding “Alnylam 2020” guidance for the advancement and 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 and future plans may differ materially from those indicated by these forward-looking statements as a result of various important risks, uncertainties and other 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 product 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 for a specified indication or at all, actions or advice of regulatory agencies, which may affect the design, initiation, timing, continuation and/or progress of clinical trials or result in the need for additional pre-clinical and/or clinical testing, delays, interruptions or failures in the manufacture and supply of its product candidates, obtaining, maintaining and protecting intellectual property, Alnylam's ability to enforce its intellectual property rights against third parties and defend its patent portfolio against challenges from third parties, obtaining and maintaining regulatory approval, pricing and reimbursement for products, progress in establishing a commercial and ex-United States infrastructure, competition from others using technology similar to Alnylam's and others developing products for similar uses, Alnylam's ability to manage its growth and operating expenses, 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 and distribution of products, the outcome of litigation, the risk of government investigations, 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, except to the extent required by law, to update any forward-looking statements.