AstraZeneca purchases rights to experimental antisense treatment

AstraZeneca has purchased the rights to IONIS-AZ6-2.5-LRx/AZD2693 – an experimental antisense therapy developed by Ionis Pharmaceuticals.

The treatment is designed to inhibit an undisclosed target to treat patients with nonalcoholic steatohepatitis.

AstraZeneca will pay a GBP 21 million licence fee to Ionis, although the whole deal could be worth ten times this amount.

Brett P. Monia, chief operating officer and senior vice-president of antisense drug discovery and translational medicine at Ionis Pharmaceuticals, commented: "This is the third drug to enter development under our strategic collaboration with AstraZeneca to discover drugs to treat cardiovascular, renal and metabolic diseases.

He noted that IONIS-AZ6-2.5-LRx incorporates many of the advancements the company has made in antisense technology, including its LIgand-Conjugated Antisense (LICA) and Generation 2.5 chemistry, and is the second drug in its collaboration to incorporate both modifications. 

Mr Monia added that by combining Generation 2.5 and LICA, it can generate drugs that have the advantages of both higher affinity chemistry and efficient cell-specific targeting. 

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