Silence Therapeutics of London and Intradigm Corporation of Palo Alto, California, have merged, in a deal designed to boost their competitiveness as providers of RNA interference (RNAi) delivery solutions. The two firms have developed separate technologies to enhance RNAi delivery and stability, currently the biggest challenge in RNAi-based therapeutics. By merging, the new company hopes to offer a set of systems to overcome these problems. Silence will contribute the AtuPlex delivery platform designed to stabilize siRNA within a liposome, whereas Intradigm's system is a biodegradable, synthetic peptide–based polymer that allows any tissue in the body to be targeted by adding a ligand. The deal, which took place as a reverse merger and for which Silence issued close to 80 million shares to acquire Intradigm, has been valued at about £20 million ($32.6 million). According to Simos Simeonidis, an analyst at Rodman & Renshaw, the combined company (which retains the name Silence Therapeutics) may become a more attractive partner for big pharma than its predecessors were because it has more platforms to offer. But he doesn't think the merger makes Silence any more competitive compared with market leaders Alnylam and Sirna because pharma can always partner with multiple biotechs, each offering different technologies. Besides, said Simeonidis, “no one has all the answers, not even Silence with their multiple delivery technologies.”