By Steven Melendez

Law360, New York (January 18, 2012, 9:28 PM ET) -- Alnylam Pharmaceuticals Inc. filed suit Tuesday in Massachusetts federal court against Tekmira Pharmaceuticals Corp., alleging Canada-based Tekmira infringed six patents by selling gene-therapy-related molecules to pharmaceutical giant Bristol-Myers Squibb Co.

The suit claims Tekmira went beyond the scope of a licensing agreement when it agreed to provide small interfering RNA, or RNAi, molecules to Bristol-Myers Squibb in exchange for “an upfront fee of $3 million plus additional consideration,” in deals announced in 2010 and 2011, according to the complaint. Those molecules can be used to effectively...