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Novartis licenses novel lipid-lowering treatments
Novartis entered into an agreement with Ionis Pharmaceuticals and its affiliate, Akcea Therapeutics, to license novel treatments for lowering lipoprotein(a) and apolipoprotein C-III, according to press releases from the companies.
The option and collaboration agreement is for the development and commercialization of AKCEA-APO(a)-LRx and AKCEA-APOCIII-LRx, the companies stated.
Under terms of the agreement, Ionis and Akcea can receive as much as $225 million in near-term payments, which includes a $75 million up-front option payment and a $100 million investment (1,631,435 shares at $61.30 per share) in Ionis stock, Ionis and Akcea stated in their release.
As each drug proceeds through development, Ionis and Akcea are eligible to receive a license fee and development, regulatory and commercial milestone payments, as well as royalties “in the mid-teens to low 20% range on net sales of each drug,” according to Ionis and Akcea.
The two investigational antisense therapies could lower their respective lipoprotein targets by as much as 90% and reduce CV risk in high-risk patients, Novartis stated in its release.
The antisense technology inhibits synthesis by the liver of the lipoproteins, and the ligand-conjugated formulation developed by Ionis and Akcea enables the therapy to be delivered in a lower dose with better targeting and tolerability, according to the Novartis release.
“Novartis is building a robust [CV] portfolio of targeted therapies to address unmet medical need of high-risk patients,” Vasant Narasimhan, MD, global head of drug development and chief medical officer of Novartis, said in his company’s release. “Lp(a) and ApoC-III are potent, genetically validated [CV] risk reduction targets. The importance of predictive biomarkers in achieving successful [CV] outcomes will also be essential in the future payer environment.”
Paula Soteropoulos, CEO of Akcea, stated in the Ionis/Akcea release: “We believe that Novartis is the ideal partner for developing both drugs to their fullest potential. ... This strategic partnership allows us to move more rapidly to phase 3 [CV] outcomes studies with both therapies than our original development plan.”
Disclosure: Narasimhan is an employee of Novartis. Soteropoulos is an employee of Akcea.