Patent ID: 8877917

Claim:
An RNAi agent for inhibiting the expression of a target gene in a cell, wherein the RNAi agent is a compound of formula (III): wherein Z 3 and Z 4 are each independently O, S, OH, O − , OR 11 , Se, BH 3 − , H, NHR 12 , N(R 12 ) 2 , optionally substituted alkyl, optionally substituted cycloalkyl, optionally substituted aralkyl, optionally substituted aryl, or optionally substituted heteroaryl; wherein R 11 and R 12 are each independently optionally substituted alkyl, optionally substituted cycloalkyl, optionally substituted aryl, optionally substituted aralkyl, optionally substituted heterocyclyl, optionally substituted heteroaryl or amino acid; wherein the ligand comprises at least one galactose moiety and is coupled through at least one linker group and at least one linker group —O—CH 2 CH 2 (OCH 2 CH 2 ) n OP(Z 5 )(Z 6 )—; wherein Z 1 , Z 2 , Z 5 and Z 6 are each independently O, S, OH, O − , OR 11 , Se, BH 3 − , H, NHR 12 , N(R 12 ) 2 , optionally substituted alkyl, optionally substituted cycloalkyl, optionally substituted aralkyl, optionally substituted aryl, or optionally substituted heteroaryl; wherein n is 1-20, and wherein at least one oligoribonucleotide strand is complementary to at least parts of an mRNA corresponding to the target gene.