Merck & Co. Inc. (MRK) will acquire Sirna Therapeutics, one of the leading companies in the pursuit of the Nobel Prize award winning technology that could lead to the ability to "turn off" a gene.
The $1.1 billion deal was announced yesterday and is the biggest indicator yet of the interest among pharmaceutical companies in this new technology. Known as RNA interference, the technology is a powerful mechanism for inactivating particular genes.
Currently, the technology is used to study the functions of genes and the hope is that killing viruses and tumors can be controled by turning off their genes.
This is an indication of the desire Merck has to move beyond pills, such as Vioxx the painkiller pulled from the market due to adverse side effects. Diversifying to other forms of medicine was the catalyst behind the acquistion of two biotechnology companies, similar to Amgen Inc. (AMGN) and Genentech Inc. (DNA).
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