Breaking News, Collaborations & Alliances

Ionis, Novartis Partner on Next-Gen Program Targeting Lp(a) for CV Disease

Ionis' new and advanced technologies will be used to create next generation compound targeting Lp(a).

Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc., a company involved in RNA-targeted therapy, entered a collaboration and license agreement with Novartis for the discovery, development and commercialization of a novel medicine for patients with lipoprotein(a), or Lp(a)-driven cardiovascular disease (CVD). This builds on the companies’ existing collaboration focused on the development and commercialization of pelacarsen, which Novartis is currently evaluating in a Phase 3 cardiovascular outcome study. The next generation compound will be a potential follow-on to pelacarsen.

Ionis will receive a $60 million upfront payment from Novartis and is eligible to earn development, regulatory and commercial milestone payments, and tiered royalties. Novartis will be solely responsible for the development, manufacturing, and potential commercialization of the next generation Lp(a) therapy.

“We are pleased to expand our productive collaboration with Novartis aimed at delivering transformative therapies to patients with elevated Lp(a) who are at high risk of cardiovascular events,” said Brett Monia, Ionis’ CEO. “This collaboration is designed to leverage Ionis’ advancing RNA-targeting platform technologies to deliver a novel Lp(a)-targeting therapy that we expect will provide industry-leading efficacy and dosing frequency.” 

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