Inside the Push to Personalize RNA Medicine

Tailored antisense drugs move from concept to clinic as researchers and companies test faster models for ultra-rare conditions

1 Feb 2025

A shift is under way in rare disease medicine as personalised antisense oligonucleotide, or ASO, platforms begin to offer treatment options for patients with ultra-rare genetic conditions that have long lacked therapies.

Momentum has grown after researchers at Children’s Mercy Kansas City showed they could design and test a tailored ASO candidate for a single patient within weeks. In published work, the team used patient-derived organoid models to screen potential treatments before clinical use, suggesting a way to compress development timelines that traditionally stretch over years.

By working with tissue created from a patient’s own cells, researchers can assess multiple ASO formulations and identify those with the strongest preclinical signal. The approach remains experimental and is not yet widely deployed in clinical care, but it has drawn attention across the biotechnology industry.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals, a pioneer of RNA-based medicines, is closely monitoring the rise of individualised ASO therapies, according to people familiar with its research priorities. Analysts view the trend as part of a broader shift in biotechnology, where companies and investors are placing greater value on platforms that can rapidly generate targeted treatments.

Regulators are also being drawn into the discussion. US Food and Drug Administration engagement has centred on existing pathways such as the Breakthrough Therapy designation, which allows faster review of treatments for serious conditions with early signs of benefit. The agency, however, is still developing frameworks for assessing drugs designed for single patients.

The emergence of personalised ASOs brings significant challenges. Manufacturing drugs for one patient at a time raises questions about cost, scalability and equitable access. There are also unresolved issues around long-term safety monitoring, regulatory consistency and how to validate results that begin in organoid models rather than large clinical trials.

Investors see both opportunity and risk. While demand for personalised medicine is expected to grow, the lack of established reimbursement models and clear regulatory standards adds uncertainty. Still, dealmaking and research partnerships are increasing as companies explore how to expand the model responsibly.

If early findings continue to translate into clinical benefit, personalised ASO platforms could reshape rare disease treatment, offering a faster and more precise route to therapies for conditions once considered untreatable.