Boehringer exercises option on second hepatic disease target

German family-owned pharma major Boehringer Ingelheim has exercised an option to receive exclusive rights to a second hepatic disease target emerging from its research collaboration and license agreement with USA-based Dicerna Pharmaceuticals (Nasdaq: DRNA), with the news sending Dicerna’s shares up 8.63% to $11.83 on Friday.

The collaboration, established in October 2017, aims to discover and develop novel GalXC RNAi therapeutics for the treatment of chronic liver diseases, with an initial focus on non-alcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH), a devastating disease for which there is no approved treatment.

The option is the second target under the two companies’ research collaboration and license agreement. Under the terms of the deal, Boehringer Ingelheim will be responsible for future clinical development and commercialization of the therapeutic target. Dicerna is eligible to receive development and commercial milestone payments, and royalties on worldwide net sales. Further financial terms of the new deal were not disclosed, but it adds to the 2017 agreement, which could earn Dicerna around $200 million.