AstraZeneca to Work with Ionis on Eplontersen Drug

By Joe Hoppe

AstraZeneca PLC said Tuesday that it will collaborate with Ionis Pharmaceuticals Inc., to jointly develop and commercialize the Californian biotechnology company's antisense drug Eplontersen.

The companies will jointly develop and commercialize the drug in the U.S., while AstraZeneca will develop and commercialize Eplontersen in the rest of the world, except for Latin America, it said.

The pharmaceutical company will pay Ionis $200 million up front and additional conditional payments of up to $485 million after regulatory approvals. It will also pay up to $2.9 billion of sales-related milestones, and royalties in the range of a low double-digit to a mid-twenties percentage, depending on the region.

Eplontersen, which is currently in phase 3 clinical trials, treats amyloid transthyretin cardiomyopathy, or ATTR-CM--a systemic, progressive and fatal condition that leads to progressive heart failure and death within four years of diagnosis. It also treats amyloid transthyretin polyneuropathy, or ATTR-PN, a disease causing peripheral nerve damage with motor disability within five years of diagnosis, and is generally fatal within a decade if untreated.

Hereditary ATTR-PN treatment is likely to be the first regulatory approval for Eplontersen, with the potential to file a new drug application with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration by the end of 2022.

Write to Joe Hoppe at [e-mail]

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

December 07, 2021 02:54 ET (07:54 GMT)

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