Delivery and targeting are still seen as the biggest areas of need for oligonucleotide, peptide, mRNA and gene edited therapeutics, according to our industry report.
The report collates interesting data and insights from our recent global survey of professionals working across genome editing and oligonucleotide, peptide and mRNA therapeutics.
The rise of mRNA therapeutics
Delivery and targeting had previously been found as top areas of need in our industry report in 2019. However, scale of manufacturing has since become the third biggest area of demand, a higher priority than it was in 2019. This is followed by mRNA and siRNA, as RNA therapeutics have seen a boom in interest and demand since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The most common delivery systems
The survey found that naked systems with lipophilic conjugates are now the most common form of local delivery for macromolecular drugs, used by 46% of the industry professionals. Meanwhile, systems formulated in LNPs were found to be the most common method for systemic macromolecular drug delivery.
The biggest future advancements
The survey participants were also asked what major advancements each technology field will see in the next 5 years. Effective delivery was again the top-suggested major advancement for oligonucleotides over the next 5 years, as it was in our 2019 survey. Similarly, in relation to genome editing, the most common suggestion was a more mature clinical pipeline, the same top answer found relating to CRISPR therapeutics in 2019.
As the next biggest advancement for peptides, the most common prediction was oral delivery systems and, perhaps not surprisingly, further uses in vaccines was the most predicted major advancement for mRNA therapeutics.