Novartis elects to keep one heart drug, discard the other from option deal with Akcea, Ionis

One heart drug is enough, Novartis has signaled to Akcea.

The Swiss drugmaker tied up with the antisense company, and close affiliate Ionis, in 2017. The exclusive option agreement — to develop and commercialize AKCEA-APO(a)-L and AKCEA-APOCIII-L — granted Ionis and Akcea $75 million upfront, in addition to milestone payments if the drugs were chosen, as well as a $100 million equity investment in Ionis.