Ascletis Strategy Begins To Reach Fruition In Deal With Alnylam For HCC Candidate

U.S.-China hybrid Ascletis is in-licensing rights to Phase II-ready RNA-interference program ALN-VSP from Alnylam with an eye on developing a groundbreaking therapy for an underserved indication that hits especially hard in China.

Founded in 2011 with a mission to both discover and develop internal candidates while also in-licensing mid-stage candidates from other companies, the two-fold strategy of Ascletis Inc. began to reach fruition July 12 with the announcement of a licensing deal for an RNA-interference candidate for hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) from U.S. biotech Alnylam Pharmaceuticals Inc.

Alnylam, one of the pioneer firms in RNAi, advanced ALN-VSP through Phase I in liver cancer but, due to the size of the patient population and the cost of developing cancer therapeutics, decided its best path forward with the drug was by collaborating with a partner willing to take on the costs of development Also see "

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