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.