Alnylam Pharmaceuticals (ALNY), an RNAi therapeutics company, has signed a huge license with Roche which could be worth as much as $1 billion The small company had total revenue fo $26 million last year.

Under the terms of the agreeement: "Alnylam will give Roche a non-exclusive license to its technology. Roche will pay $331 million in upfront fees, including making an investment of just under 2 million shares of Alnylam stock, representing nearly 5 percent of the company’s outstanding shares," according to the AP.

Shares in ALNY are up 52% to $23.30, which takes the company’s market cap to $875 million.

The stock still looks cheap.

Douglas A. McIntyre