Roche sees human trials with RNAi drugs in 2 years

LONDON (Reuters) - Roche Holding AG (ROG.VX) expects to start first tests in humans using RNA interference (RNAi) drugs within two years, the Swiss drugmaker's head of global pharma research said on Monday.

Lee Babiss told reporters in a conference call that the first products entering clinical trials from its new alliance with Alnylam Pharmaceuticals Inc. (ALNY.O) were likely to be in chronic obstructive pulmonary diseases (COPD), type 2 diabetes and liver metastasis in colorectal cancer.