2014 Record Year for Antisense RNAi Therapeutics Deals

  The deals market for antisense RNA interference (RNAi) therapeutics witnessed a record year in 2014, with a total value of almost $5.6 billion across 59 transactions, by far the largest deal value ever seen in this space, according to research and consulting firm GlobalData.   The company’s latest report states that this figure is almost triple that of the previous year, with just over $1.9 billion raised from 62 deals in 2013, and almost double the previous high of approximately $2.9 billion from 58 transactions in 2010.     Adam Dion, MS, Senior Industry Analyst for GlobalData, said three mergers and acquisitions worth $1.2 billion, as well as record highs for licensing and capital raisings, helped to fuel deals in 2014.   Dion commented: “2014 witnessed two very significant licensing deals when Celgene and Nogra Pharma struck a $1.5 billion agreement for Nogra’s GED-0301 to treat Crohn’s disease, and Genzyme and Alnylam signed a $775 million pact to co-develop Alnylam’s patisiran for transthyretin-mediated amyloidosis patients with familial amyloid polyneuropathy."   Dion explained that the majority of the capital raised was from investment banks, such as JP Morgan, Deutsche Bank, and JMP Securities, for top RNAi therapeutics vendors, including Alnylam, Isis Pharmaceuticals, Moderna, and BioMarin.   PharmaSphere: Emerging Biotechnologies – Antisense RNAi Therapeutics Market Analysis