RNAi shutdown

摘要

Pharmaceutical powerhouse Merck is shutting down the San Francisco research facility it acquired in 2006 when it paid US$1.1 billion for Sirna Therapeutics, a California biotechnology firm specializing in RNA interference (RNAi) as a treatment. The 29 July announcement seems to be another blow to the RNAi field, which has been hit hard by pharma restructurings in the past year (see Nature 468,487; 2010). Separately, Merck, which is headquartered in Whitehouse Station, New Jersey, announced job cuts of 12-13% by 2015, on top of the 17% cuts it announced after purchasing Schering-Plough in November 2009. See go.nature.com/ av5uho for more.