One method of treating disease is through inactivating the malignance of the disease-causing gene.
Gene silencing by RNAi has now been identified as a crucial technology for target validation and therapeutics. By targeting and interfering with messenger RNA (mRNA), RNAi technology blocks the expression of the proteins implicated in disease progression.
Currently, the nascent RNAi market is relatively limited in size and revenues. "The market for RNAi is, however, set to witness rapid initial growth because of its speedy adoption by researchers and for drug target validation by pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies," comments Dr. Raju Adhikari, Pharmaceutical & Biotechnology Analyst at Frost & Sullivan (http://biotech.frost.com).
"Once the delivery of short interfering RNA (siRNA) and patent issue is sorted, and the initial therapeutic potential provided, the market will be driven mainly by pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies involved in RNAi-based therapeutic development and drug target validation," adds Dr. Adhikari.
The development of RNAi technology is simultaneously set to receive added impetus from the boom in genomic and proteomic studies. RNAi's uptake is also expected to be supported by its profile as a reliable and effective technology with reduced toxic and off-target outcomes. The anticipated change of the patents and license situation is likely to encourage more companies to offer RNAi technologies.
In 2003, global RNAi market revenues were estimated at USD 48.0 million. Of the three application markets- basic research, target validation and therapeutics- the use of RNAi in target validation is expected to be the largest over the long term. In 2010, target validation is estimated to generate USD 146.4 million or just under 50 per cent of total RNAi market revenues, followed by research with USD 97.6 and therapeutics with USD 56.0 million.
RNA oligonucleotides are set to be the largest segment of the RNAi market in the long term, representing an estimated 56 per cent share of the market in 2010. The vector-based siRNA segment is projected to account for 18 per cent share of the total market at the same point, closely followed by the RNAi therapeutic segment with 17 per cent and the RNAi contract services segment with a 9 per cent share.
Forecast to grow at an annual average of 31.5 per cent over the 2003 to 2010 period, the total RNAi market is set to accumulate USD 328 million in worldwide revenues. Spurred by its potential, the number of biotechnology and pharmaceutical companies involved in the technology is also expected to surge.