Accent on RNA

With its debut Friday with a $40 million series A, Accent Therapeutics Inc. became the second disclosed newco to jump into the nascent arena of RNA epigenetics. The biotech has identified enzymes it believes drive cancer by modifying RNA, rather than DNA, to alter gene expression. It plans to target the enzymes with small molecules.

DNA- and histone-modifying enzymes, such as histone deacetylases (HDACs), have long been targeted by drug companies based on their role in creating patterns of gene expression that underlie disease. At least five small molecule HDAC inhibitors are marketed for cancer. But humans also produce RNA-modifying enzymes, roughly 140 of them. Most of those also control gene expression, yet the class has not been on the radar of therapeutics companies. ...