Event preview of the RNA Leaders USA Congress
Nucleic Acid Insights 2026; 3(6)
DOI: 10.18609/nai.2026.056
As RNA therapeutics move from a small set of approved drugs toward a broad pipeline spanning oncology, rare disease, and metabolic disorders, Nucleic Acid Insights presents a preview of RNA Leaders USA 2026, taking place at the Hynes Convention Center in Boston, September 23–25, 2026, as part of Biotech Week Boston. The program spans RNA-based therapies, vaccines, and diagnostics; emerging modalities including RNA editing and next-generation delivery systems; the chemistry, formulation, and manufacturing advances required to bring RNA products to scale; and the commercial and investment strategies shaping the route to market. This preview highlights the key sessions, speakers, and themes defining the US RNA agenda.
Pre-conference workshops: from targeted delivery to clinical CMC readiness
The program opens with a day of pre-conference workshops spanning the commercial and scientific groundwork of RNA development. In an interactive session on valuation in strategic partnering, Renee Williams (Founder and Managing Partner, Williams Biotech Consulting, LLC) and Jeff Raphael (Founder and Managing Partner, OmniScope Partners) will guide biotech management teams through a practical framework for translating scientific differentiation, development stage, risk profile, and commercial potential into intrinsic value assumptions, and for reading how partnering structures, market dynamics, and deal terms shape headline value and partner alignment. In the RNA Leaders CEO Forum, Nathaniel Wang (CEO, Replicate Bioscience) will convene a peer-to-peer discussion centered on the opportunity and challenges of moving to China for RNA drug development, spanning regulatory navigation, market access, manufacturing, intellectual property protection, and partnership strategy.
Further workshops turn to the science of delivering RNA and preparing it for the clinic. Haig Aghajanian (Founder, Capstan Therapeutics) will lead a session drawing together multiple industry perspectives on targeted delivery for mRNA and oligonucleotide therapeutics, addressing delivery barriers, targeting strategies, and formulation approaches that sharpen therapeutic precision. A regulatory and CMC workshop led by Vinita Doshi (Senior Scientist, Intellia), Vega Shetty (Scientist, Intellia), and Mayurbhai Patel (VP of CMC and Chemistry Development, Judo Bio) will examine what breaks between discovery and clinical CMC, and how to fix it early, making the case that most IND delays stem from avoidable gaps in scalability, impurity understanding, and analytical readiness rather than fundamental chemistry failure, and that aligning chemistry, analytics, and control strategy with regulatory expectations from the outset is the way to prevent them.
RNA drug discovery: fostering the next wave of RNA medicines
A keynote panel will open the discovery discussion, examining the technologies shaping the next generation of genetic medicines. Karina Thorn (Vice President, Head of Nucleic Acid Research, Novo Nordisk), Muthiah (Mano) Manoharan (Senior Vice President of Drug Innovation and Distinguished Research Scientist, Alnylam Pharmaceuticals), Malgorzata Gonciarz (Global Head xRNA Therapeutics, Novartis), and Shraddha Sharma (Director, Discovery Biology, Sanofi) will explore emerging areas of innovation, including in vivo mRNA CAR-T approaches, circular RNA, RNA editing, and antisense oligonucleotide development for central nervous system disorders. The session will consider how advances in chemical modification, formulation science, and AI-driven design are addressing persistent challenges in stability, immunogenicity, and delivery, opening new therapeutic possibilities across oncology, rare diseases, and metabolic disorders.
The investment landscape for RNA therapeutics
An interactive roundtable will give attendees direct access to the investor perspective. In an open question-and-answer format, Soyoung Park (General Partner, 1004 Venture Partners) and Max Colbert (Senior Associate, Medical Excellence Capital) will discuss funding strategies, market trends, and the considerations that drive investment decisions in the RNA therapeutics space, offering a candid view of what shapes capital flows into the field.
Convening more than 350 attendees from biotech, pharma, academia, investment, and technology, RNA Leaders USA 2026 offers a focused view of the science, chemistry, manufacturing, and capital shaping RNA medicine in the US. Through keynotes, panels, workshops, roundtables, and networking sessions, and as part of Biotech Week Boston and its wider ecosystem of more than 5,000 participants, the meeting connects US-based decision makers with the full biopharmaceutical community. As RNA therapies, vaccines, and diagnostics continue to move toward market, the congress provides a timely forum for the collaboration and knowledge exchange that will define the field's next stage.
As a reader of Nucleic Acid Insights, you're entitled to a 15% discount on delegate tickets – just use the code MMBio15! You can find out more about RNA Leaders USA 2026 here.
Additionally, to find out what other nucleic acid events are upcoming, you can find our online Events Calendar here.