BRIEF—Chinook and Ionis launch antisense partnership

Chinook Therapeutics has entered into a collaboration with antisense specialist Ionis Pharmaceuticals in the area of rare, severe chronic kidney diseases.

The project is aimed at developing antisense oligonucleotide (ASO) therapies, using Chinook’s precision medicine approach and Ionis’ expertise in RNA-targeted therapeutics.

ASO therapies are designed to destroy mRNA in a targeted way, reducing the amount of disease-causing proteins.

Ionis will be responsible for IND-enabling toxicology studies while Chinook will take forward clinical development and commercialization of candidates.

Chinook will make an undisclosed upfront payment as well as potential development and regulatory milestone payments, plus royalty payments.