Ionis licenses hepatitis B program to GSK

27 August 2019

US RNA-targeted drug developer Ionis Pharmaceuticals (Nasdaq: IONS) says that GlaxoSmithKline (LSE: GSK) has exercised its option to license Ionis' antisense medicines for people with chronic hepatitis B virus (CHB) infection following positive Phase II results.

Not impressed with the news, investor pushed shares of Ionis down 0.78% to $67.07 in morning trading.

CHB is a chronic viral infection of the liver that can lead to significant and potentially fatal health conditions, including cirrhosis, liver failure and liver cancer. Current treatments for patients with CHB provide low levels of hepatitis B virus S antigen seroclearance, leaving many patients without a treatment to achieve sustained disease remission. There are more than 200 million patients worldwide living with CHB.

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