There is a growing demand to use these therapeutics to treat larger numbers of patients for common diseases - meaning that a lot more capacity is needed. Daniel Samson, head of oligonucleotides at Bachem, gives some insight into the challenges faced when manufacturing on a large scale.
Oligonucleotides are short, single or double-stranded fragments of DNA or RNA that can be used for therapeutic purposes. Originally, there was an emphasis on using this new drug modality for treating rare diseases, yet they have also shown great potential to be used for more common diseases.