Akcea and Ionis gain as Novartis goes all in on CV drug

Novartis (NOVN: VX) is far from finished trying to maximize the life cycle of its blockbuster heart failure drug Entresto (sacubitril/valsartan), but that is by no means its only target in the cardiovascular (CV) space, a new deal shows.

The Swiss pharma giant is exercising its option to license the rights to develop and commercialize TQJ230, an RNA-targeting drug from Akcea Therapeutics, a spin-off of California-based Ionis Pharmaceuticals (Nasdaq: IONS), for targeted CV therapy.

"We're excited about the novel, RNA-targeting approach that could be a game-changer for people with elevated Lp(a)"Shares in Akcea shot up by 11% on Monday in the hour after markets opened, while Ionis was also more than 3% up. To date, they have developmed TQJ230 together.