About half a year after reabsorbing its lipid-focused spinout Akcea, Ionis is now putting a major reorganization plan in play — one that involves shaving nearly 70% of the subsidiary’s workforce and expanding its distribution deal with Sobi.
Late last year Novartis abandoned a cardio drug from Ionis’ spinoff Akcea just after the pharma giant snapped up inclisiran, going the RNAi way in guarding against heart disease in the $9.7 billion Medco buyout.
Now the pharma goliath — which is headed down the PCSK9 road with a drug it believes can be used in a mass population — can get a clearer picture of just what they gave up.
Karyopharm hopes to move Xpovio earlier in the multiple myeloma treatment sequence, and data are due for Akcea/Ionis’s triglyceride regulator, for which Pfizer paid a hefty sum.
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.
Pfizer this morning bought an experimental heart disease drug from Akcea therapeutics, the first move made by the Ionis Pharmaceuticals spinout since the company overhauled its management team last month.
Biotech stocks moved mostly sideways during the week, although there was a flurry of activity in the space. Earnings from the sector began to trickle in, with Bristol-Myers Squibb Co (NYSE: BMY) reporting forecast-beating earnings.
The FDA approved two oral formulations of the Pfizer (NYSE: PFE) drug tafamidis, to be sold as Vyndaqel and Vyndamax. The drug has been approved specifically to treat the potentially deadly heart problems faced by patients with both the hereditary and “wild-type” forms of ATTR, the latter of which develops over time.
Eight more drugs have received approval recommendations from the committee that advises European regulators on what therapies to clear for market.
Akcea Therapeutics – For Cambridge, Mass.-based Akcea Therapeutics, the past quarter has been one of triumph and defeat.
Tegsedi will challenge Alnylam's rival drug Onpattro, which is OK'd for the same hereditary condition. But a black box warning could weigh on Tegsedi's prospects.