Ionis signs deal for eplontersen worth up to $3.6 billion

US RNA-targeted drug developer Ionis Pharmaceuticals (Nasdaq: IONS) entered into a development and commercialization deal with the UKs AstraZeneca (LSE: AZN) for eplontersen, formerly known as IONIS-TTR-LRX, sending the US firm’s shares 7% higher to $29.44 by late morning today.

Eplontersen is a ligand-conjugated antisense investigational medicine currently in Phase III clinical trials for amyloid transthyretin cardiomyopathy (ATTR-CM) and amyloid transthyretin polyneuropathy (ATTR-PN). It is designed to reduce the production of transthyretin (TTR protein) to treat both hereditary and non-hereditary forms of TTR amyloidosis (ATTR).

According to analytics firm GlobalData, the ATTR therapy sector is forecast to reach a value of $14.1 billion across the seven major markets by 2029.