RNAi as a tool for target discovery in early pharmaceutical research.

The pharmaceutical industry is currently faced with increasing pressure due to patent expirations for block busters, healthcare reforms with strained budgets and growing demands for approval by administrative organizations like the FDA and the EMA. High attrition rates especially in the later expensive stages of the drug development process ask for thoroughly validated drug targets at the beginning of such projects. The great potential of RNA interference strategies toward reaching this goal is outlined in this article.