Roche Licenses Ionis Pharmaceuticals Kidney Disease Treatment Candidate

Roche has acquired the rights to Ionis Pharmaceuticals’ investigational antisense medicine IONIS-FB-LRx for $55 million.

Under the terms of the licensing deal, Roche will develop the drug candidate for use in a phase 3 study in patients with immunoglobulin A nephropathy, a rare condition that often leads to chronic kidney disease and renal failure.

In a phase 2 study, IONIS-FB-LRx met its primary endpoint of a reduction in 24-hour urinary protein at 29 weeks compared to baseline. Elevated urinary protein is an early sign of renal failure.

Roche’s decision to advance the program “reaffirms our shared confidence in the ability of Ionis’ antisense medicines to effectively target the root cause of difficult to treat diseases like immunoglobulin A nephropathy,” said Michael McCaleb, vice president, clinical development at Ionis.