PHG Foundation | Setback for RNA interference therapies

Setback for RNA interference therapies
Report of a story in the news | By Simon Leese | Published 2 December 2010

Sources: Nature News, In the Pipeline, Fierce Biotech

The pharmaceutical company Roche has announced that it is to cease research into RNA interference (RNAi) therapies.



RNAi is the technique of silencing specific genes by binding complementary RNA sequences to their transcripts before they are translated into proteins, a process that occurs naturally as part of gene regulation in cells. The process was discovered in 1998, and had been thought by many to be one of the strongest prospects for future therapies, offering the possibility of tailored sequences that could switch off disease-causing genes ‘to order’. However there have been no RNAi therapies available to patients to date; the biggest issue has been the delivery of RNA molecules to their target cells.

The announcement, coming after three years and more than $500 million invested in the research, is part of a corporate restructuring that will involve the cutting of around 6% of Roche’s staff worldwide over the next two years. The news has been described as the biggest vote of no confidence in RNAi to date and has resulted in tumbling share prices for specialist RNAi companies such as Alnylam who had already been forced to lay off staff after Novartis elected not to extend its partnership with them earlier this year.

Despite this potential setback for the future of RNAi, other big pharma companies remain invested in it; Merck’s programme continues, and CEO of Alnylam John Maraganore says that the three years that Roche spent on the technology is not enough to evaluate it properly, that “It’s like kicking your three-year-old out of the house and telling him to get a job”.
PHG Foundation | Setback for RNA interference therapies