GWW vs ALNY Comparison

Founded in 1927, W.W. Grainger originally distributed various motors via a mail-order catalogue. Over the course of the 20th century, the firm expanded into new industrial product categories and launched its first digital catalogue in 1995. Today, the company organizes itself into two segments focused on different customer bases. Its larger segment, high-touch solutions, offers a vast array of maintenance, repair, and operations, or MRO, supplies and bespoke inventory management services to larger businesses. Its smaller segment, endless assortment, operates two online platforms, Zoro and MonotaRO, that offer comprehensive catalogues of MRO supplies to smaller businesses. Grainger has operations throughout the world but primarily generates sales within the US.

Alnylam Pharmaceuticals is a leader in the study of RNA interference (RNAi) therapeutics. RNAi is a naturally occurring biological pathway within cells for sequence-specific silencing and regulation of gene expression. Alnylam has five drugs on the market: Onpattro and Amvuttra for hATTR amyloidosis, Givlaari for acute hepatic porphyria, Oxlumo for primary hyperoxaluria type 1, and Leqvio for hypercholesterolemia. It also has several clinical programs across various therapeutic areas: genetic medicines; cardio-metabolic diseases; hepatic infectious diseases, and CNS/ocular diseases. Upfront fees from research partnerships have boosted Alnylam's cash levels, and the company stands to see additional milestones and royalties from drugs commercialized under collaboration partnerships.