Arrowhead inks billion-dollar deal for NASH candidate

23 November 2021

Shares of USA-based biotech Arrowhead Pharmaceuticals (Nasdaq: ARWR) gained 4.6% to $72.48 in after-hours trading yesterday, after it announced a potential $1 billion back-loaded deal with UK pharma major Glaxo SmithKline (LSE: GSK).

Under the terms of the accord, GSK will develop and commercialize ARO-HSD, Arrowhead’s investigational RNA interference (RNAi) therapeutic in a Phase I/II trial that is currently being developed as a treatment for patients with non-alcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH), an area of research that is strewn with failures.

Just over a year ago, Arrowhead inked a similarly value deal with Japan’s Takeda (TYO: 4502) for the development of ARO-AAT, a Phase II investigational RNA interference (RNAi) therapy aiming to treat alpha-1 antitrypsin-associated liver disease (AATLD).

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