Ionis and Akcea in possible $1 billion deal for AKCEA cardio candidates

6 January 2017

USA-based Ionis Pharmaceuticals (Nasdaq: IONS) saw its shares rise 5.86% at $49.85 in pre-maket trading, following news of a potentially lucrative alliance for its cardiovascular drug candidates.

Along with its subsidiary Akcea Therapeutics, Ionis has entered into an exclusive, worldwide option and collaboration agreement with Swiss pharma giant Novartis (NOVN: DE) to develop and commercialize AKCEA-APO(a)-LRx and AKCEA-APOCIII-LRx.

Ionis and Akcea are eligible to receive $225 million in near-term payments, including an immediate $75 million up-front option payment and a $100 million equity investment in Ionis, which equates to 1,631,435 shares at $61.30 per share. Ionis and Akcea are also eligible to receive a license fee as well as development, regulatory and commercial milestone payments as each drug advances. In addition, Ionis and Akcea are eligible to receive tiered royalties in the mid-teens to low 20% range on net sales of each drug.

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