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AstraZeneca Boosts Rare Disease Pipeline With Ionis Antisense Candidate

Pays $200m Upfront

07 Dec 2021

• By Ayisha Sharma

AstraZeneca has bulked up its late-stage pipeline with an agreement for Ionis’s eplontersen which is in trials for two rare diseases, quelling some analysts’ fears about the scarcity of catalysts for next year.

AstraZeneca And Ionis Have A Track Record of Dealmaking Together • Source: Alamy

AstraZeneca PLC has inked a development and commercialization deal for Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc.’s advanced antisense asset eplontersen, just a day after analysts at Jefferies downgraded the UK major for its lack of upcoming development events.

Ionis will receive $200m upfront and up to $485m more in conditional payments after approvals. AstraZeneca is also set to pay up to $2