RNA Interference: The Noise Surrounding Gene Silencing

Ambion and Dharmacon are staking out a clear lead in the race to provide scientists the special tools needed to exploit the breakthrough technology known as gene silencing."

ARLINGTON, VA – February 27, 2003 –Ambion and Dharmacon are staking out a clear lead in the race to provide scientists the special tools needed to exploit the breakthrough technology known as gene silencing." But other established players including Invitrogen (NASDAQ 100:IVGN), New England Biolabs, Roche Applied Science and QIAGEN (NASDAQ:QGENF) are also well-positioned as a result of their reputations as suppliers of quality reagents used to study the phenomenon called RNA interference."

The Market for RNA Interference Kits & Reagents"—the latest report from BioInformatics, LLC (Arlington, VA)—details the results of a survey of 816 scientists who described their current and planned research using a technique that could revolutionize biomedical research and speed the development of new drugs.

The prestigious journal Science hailed RNA interference (RNAi) as the breakthrough of the year" in 2002. RNAi is the process whereby cells utilize pieces of short double-stranded RNA (dsRNA) to prevent the expression of specific genes by disrupting the process of mRNA translation to proteins. The ability of small interfering RNAs (siRNAs) to suppress gene expression and the subsequent application of this technology, not only to functional genomics but also to target validation, speak to its enormous potential as a tool in drug discovery.

According to BioInformatics, assigning gene function (i.e., functional genomics), creating in vivo knock-outs, and validating new drug targets are the three most common objectives of RNAi researchers. Interestingly, scientists planning to enter the field in the next 12 months say they will pursue the same objectives.

According to Dr. Robin Rothrock, Director of Market Research at BioInformatics, researchers have made tremendous progress despite few products designed specifically for RNAi. The technique of silencing genes was first developed by plant biologists. The pioneers who first applied RNAi to human biology had to develop their own protocols and adapt existing products to a new application. But as more funding and new researchers enter the field, customers will demand more standardized reagents and kits—offering tremendous opportunities for visionary companies to set the standards and shape this nascent market."

Growth in the market for reagents and kits to support RNAi research will be driven not just by new scientists adopting the technology but also by the pace at which they expect to conduct their research. 62% of the scientists surveyed expect their number of RNAi experiments to increase over the next year with 59% of them anticipating an increase of over 40%.

In addition to an in-depth exploration of RNAi experimental design, the report examines the market in terms of five distinct product categories: cationic lipid reagents, chemically synthesized custom siRNAs, linear or circular vectors, ready-to-use siRNA duplexes, siRNA-specific transcription kits. Overall, we observed a reasonably high degree of satisfaction with the products that are currently available to RNAi researchers," says Rothrock. At the same time, these same researchers want vendors to provide them with ready-to-use, off-the-shelf verified plasmids and duplexes to accelerate the adoption of RNAi technology. What were seeing is the transition from the innovators whose primary motivation was to explore RNAi, to a larger group of early adopters whose motivation is to exploit the technology, and their product expectations are changing accordingly."

The Market for RNA Interference Kits & Reagents" provides a detailed analysis of the RNAi market, including the rate at which new researchers are entering the field, preferred products and suppliers, key purchase drivers and barriers to adoption. The final report includes significant findings, full-color graphics depicting the responses to each of the surveys 41 questions, as well as important cross-tabulations to facilitate analysis.

For a complimentary Executive Summary of this report, please visit http://www.gene2drug.com/reports

ABOUT BIOINFORMATICS, LLC

BioInformatics, LLC is a market research firm located in Arlington, Virginia. BioInformatics supports marketing, sales and R&D executives in the life science, medical device and pharmaceutical industries through published research reports, custom research and consulting. BioInformatics sponsors the worlds largest market research panel of scientific customers—The Science Advisory Board (http://www.scienceboard.net)—which consists of more than 14,500 scientists, physicians and other life science and medical professionals from 62 countries who participate in surveys that address emerging technologies, test customer reactions to new product concepts, measure brand awareness and assess advertising effectiveness.

For more information, please contact:

Alyssa Martin
BioInformatics, LLC
2111 Wilson Blvd., Suite 1200
Arlington, VA 22201
703.525.3872 x358 (phone)
703.522.3685 (fax)
a.martin@gene2drug.com
http://www.gene2drug.com/

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