Isis Pharmaceuticals expands partnership with AstraZeneca
Saturday, September 12, 2015
Isis Pharmaceuticals Inc. received regulatory clearance Friday for its partnership with AstraZeneca, by which the companies will develop antisense drugs for cardiovascular, metabolic and renal diseases.
Carlsbad, Calif.-based Isis will receive a $65 million upfront payment from AstraZeneca and is eligible for milestone payments during the development process in addition to royalties on potential sales.
The two companies have teamed up before and are in collaboration on several cancer drugs.
Isis has 38 drugs in its pipeline, and partners with Biogen Inc. and Sanofi’s Genzyme, among others. The company specializes in RNA-targeted technology to develop antisense drugs. Antisense treatments are small, DNA- or RNA-like compounds that are chemically modified to create drugs.
Separately on Friday, AstraZeneca said it bought a Boulder, Colo., manufacturing facility from Amgen Inc. to support its growing pipeline.
Terms of the deal weren’t disclosed and AstraZeneca said the acquisition doesn’t affect its 2015 guidance. The site is expected to be operational and licensed for commercial production by late 2017, the company said.
wsj.com
