The burgeoning field of so-called RNA interference, or RNAi, therapeutics got a bump last year when a Nobel Prize was awarded to its academic discoverers.
Since then, RNAi has been a hot investment buzzword on Wall Street, especially with all the recent dealmaking between Big Pharma and smaller RNAi-focused biotech start-ups.
RNAi is a natural process of gene silencing in cells -- think of it as a genetic switch that when turned off, tells the body to stop making a certain protein.
Are gene stocks attractive here, or do you think they remain too speculative?
Answer Here
RNAi therapeutics are drugs that mimic this natural process. They potentially work by silencing specific messenger RNAs that are responsible for making disease-causing proteins. If you can prevent the disease-causing protein from being made, you can potentially stop or cure the disease.
RNAi drugs are still in the early stages of clinical development, but that hasn't stopped investors from already profiting from hot stocks tied to the field.
To help readers track RNAi companies, I used Capital IQ to set up a stock screen for publicly traded healthcare companies that mention the word "RNAi" in their annual reports filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission. If a company is involved enough in the field to mention it in an SEC filing, I assumed it was somewhat important to their operations.
The screen came back with 14 companies, but a word of caution: A quick look at this list should make it clear that not all these companies are what I'd call strictly RNAi-focused.
Use the list, then, as the basis for further research -- and not a definitive source of RNAi stocks.
RNAi-Related Stocks
Company Ticker
Senetek SNKTY
Cytrx CYTR
AP Pharma APPA
Targeted Genetics TGEN
Isis Pharmaceuticals ISIS
Genta GNTA
Alnylam ALNY
Nastech Pharmaceuticals NSTK
Sangamo BioSciences SGMO
Invitrogen IVGN
Exelixis EXEL
Biogen Idec BIIB
Arrowhead Research ARWR
Idera Pharmaceuticals IDP
Source: Capital IQ, SEC filings |
