Roche Exits RNAi, Raising Questions For Stalwarts

In mid-November, in a move that seemingly came from the top, Roche opted to cease all activity in RNA interference technology, preferring to invest in other areas like next-generation antibodies and peptide therapeutics. These days RNAi company Alnylam might have some difficult questions to answer about its business development strategy - only nobody's really asking. That's because even as Roche weighs its options around divestiture of its RNAi license, technology and research sites, the future of Alnylam - and the field of RNAi more generally - is now tied solely to establishing clinical proof-of-concept for siRNA drugs, and eventually getting those drugs to market.