3rd Aug 2015 06:43
LONDON (Alliance News) - AstraZeneca PLC said Monday it has agreed a collaboration with Isis Pharmaceuticals Inc to discover and develop antisense drugs for cardiovascular, metabolic and renal diseases.
Antisense drugs are small compounds that are similar to DNA or ribonucleic acid that are chemically modified to create drugs.
The collaboration builds on a broad existing relationship between the two companies, AstraZenca said, and AstraZeneca will pay an upfront fee of USD65 million to Isis Pharmaceuticals plus development and regulatory milestones for each programme AstraZeneca advances to clinical development. Isis Pharmaceuticals also will be eligible to earn tiered double-digit royalties on annual net sales for each programme.
"Antisense-based therapies are rapidly gaining momentum in the clinic and becoming an important component of our early stage pipeline. This collaboration combines the world-class antisense drug research capabilities of Isis with our expertise in cardiovascular, metabolic and renal disease drug discovery and development. By working together we aim to uncover targets and pathways that can be manipulated using antisense drug therapy," said Executive Vice President of Innovative Medicines and Early Development at AstraZeneca Mene Pangalos in a statement.
By Hana Stewart-Smith; [email protected]; @HanaSSAllNews
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