SHERIDAN, WYOMING – May 17, 2025 – Danaher Corporation is spotlighting the rapid progress and growing potential of RNA medicines, reaffirming its strategic commitment to genomic innovation while calling on industry stakeholders to sustain investment in the field. As RNA therapeutics expand across disease areas and delivery methods, Danaher’s leadership is urging the life sciences ecosystem to double down on momentum at what it describes as a defining moment for RNA-based medicine.
Breakthroughs in RNA Delivery and Safety Optimization
Among the most critical hurdles in RNA medicine—targeted delivery and toxicity—significant strides have been made. Lipid nanoparticle (LNP) technology has advanced in both in vivo and in vitro applications, bringing the field closer to achieving cell-type-specific delivery of therapeutic RNA molecules. This innovation promises enhanced safety and efficacy across a range of diseases.
“We’re extremely close to having programmable vehicles that can deliver therapeutic RNA molecules specifically to the disease-relevant cell types,” said Demaris Mills, Vice President and Group Executive, Genomic Medicines at Danaher. She emphasized that this specificity also increases safety. “Scientists have also made strides in dialing up or dialing down the amount of therapeutic RNA made in the target cells, creating medicines that are tailor-made for particular diseases.”
RNA Enables Next-Generation Gene Editing
A growing synergy between RNA technology and gene editing is also reshaping therapeutic development. Earlier methods delivered gene editors as protein/guide RNA complexes, but now the shift toward mRNA-based delivery is leveraging the body's own cellular machinery to produce gene editors, enabling greater precision and efficiency.
This transition supports the use of next-generation gene editors such as base and prime editors, which minimize off-target effects. “We’re also seeing teams combine gene editing and RNA delivery with LNPs to make more sophisticated cell therapies,” Mills noted, highlighting the expanding toolkit for personalized and regenerative medicine applications.
Expanding Clinical Impact Across Disease Areas
Since 2022, RNA-based therapies have shown robust safety and efficacy across a growing range of indications, especially in high-need therapeutic areas:
- In pancreatic cancer, mRNA immunotherapies have demonstrated reduced relapse rates.
- In late-stage melanoma, increased patient response rates have been recorded.
- RNA is being used to reprogram immune cells to attack cancer, pathogens, or aberrant autoimmune cells.
“Our immune systems are powerful,” Mills stated, “and RNA can be used to reprogram our immune cells to target the agents of disease, whether they be cancer cells, pathogens or the aberrant cells that cause autoimmunity.”
Scaling Innovation Through AI and Manufacturing Advances
Danaher reports substantial improvements in RNA and LNP manufacturing scalability, along with faster design and optimization cycles. The integration of artificial intelligence is expected to further accelerate these capabilities, enabling faster, more precise development of RNA medicines at industrial scale.
“Further integration of AI into these processes promises to speed our efforts to deliver these life-saving medicines to the patients who need them most,” Mills added.
An Industry at the Crossroads
While progress is undeniable, Mills cautions that the sector now stands at a strategic inflection point.
“We’ve seen major increases in our ability to manufacture RNA and LNPs at scale, to design and test them rapidly and to optimize them across key parameters,” she explained. But the real test, she says, is whether the industry and investors will continue to back the field during this critical period.
“We can choose to step forward into this new era of medicine powered by RNA medicines—where cancer is a preventable disease, infectious diseases are contained, and we continue our efforts to help patients get the care they need and deserve—or we can step back, divesting from these programs just as they are poised to deliver results.”
Danaher has made its position clear—and it is one of conviction and forward momentum. The company is calling on the broader life sciences and investment communities to do the same.
Learn more about Danaher’s genomic medicine initiatives at https://www.danaher.com