Hi Thomas,
I work in research, and some of the projects I am involved in peripherally are using RNAi for various purposes. This is not a major focus of mine, but I am aware of what folks are doing and where it is going, and I communicate with people who are very active in the field.
I know the trial that Benitec is gearing up for, and I know one of the leaders. The strategy in that trial is brilliant, very innovative, like nothing that has been tried before. If there is any indication that it works even partially with no significant off-target effects or adverse side effects, I think it will establish a paradigm that has many applications in diverse pathologies. When the news of that hits the mainstream, it will turn a lot of heads.
Regarding Benitec, their only claim to fame so far as I am aware is the involvement in this trial. To the best of my knowledge, nobody else is developing anything like this at all. Besides that, I don't really see much to distinguish that company.
Benitec, I am told, is planning a Spring IPO on one of the NY exhanges (probably Nasdaq, I imagine), but we'll see. Basically, I see this as a sort of "story stock." I rarely trade stocks because of any particular story, because I have just learned that really good-sounding stories very often go nowhere. Besides, almost everybody has a "good story."
Here's the Science reference, really just a news item:
Couzin J. Molecular biology. RNAi shows cracks in its armor.
Science. 2004 Nov 12;306(5699):1124-5.
Here's the link: sciencemag.org
T |
