Companies such as Novartis, Roche or Takeda are heavily invested in the advanced therapeutics field, usually spreading their bets across multiple modalities. The remaining challenges offer opportunities for the next wave of innovation to transform the field once again and make a dent in the larger market of common diseases and solid tumors.

Partnerships between big pharma and biotech focused on biologic therapies for hepatitis B could reap the benefit of less competition as lone biotechs, such as Aligos, discontinue their candidates.

The big pharma has a gene therapy R&D site in New York from its Prevail Therapeutics buy; the RNA-focused Boston site also will conduct drug delivery research benefitting programs at both locations.

The potential for RNA medicines to achieve holy grail goals – reaching undruggable targets and bringing drugs to market faster – has Pfizer, Lilly, Novartis and others in a deal-making frame of mind.