If pharmaceutical investment is a measure of the prospects for therapeutics that use RNA-interference (RNAi) technology for gene silencing (Nature 508, 443; 2014), on balance, things are looking up.

Yes, Novartis shuttered its RNAi effort and Merck sold its RNAi programme to Alnylam Pharmaceuticals. These were the right decisions: Novartis and Merck are both accomplished companies, but their decade-long efforts in RNAi failed to yield any clinical programmes.

What you did not mention was Genzyme's investment in Alnylam in early 2014 — one of the largest and most significant strategic transactions in recent biotech history. Genzyme, a Sanofi company, purchased a 12% stake in our company in return for broad product rights in the field of rare diseases in regions outside North America and western Europe.

Companies such as Genzyme do well to partner with technology innovators such as Alnylam for access to their products, not to the technology platform. This is how drug companies ultimately had success with recombinant DNA and monoclonal antibodies. The same story could be emerging with RNAi.