BioCentury
ARTICLE | Company News

Ionis to spin out lipid company Akcea

March 31, 2017 6:33 PM UTC

Ionis plans to spin out subsidiary Akcea Therapeutics Inc. in an IPO in which it would raise up to $100 million. Concurrently, partner Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS; SIX:NOVN, Basel, Switzerland) will invest $50 million in Akcea via a separate private placement at the IPO price. Akcea’s pipeline comprises lipid disorder candidates volanesorsen, AKCEA-APO(a)-LRx, AKCEA-ANGPTL3-LRx and AKCEA-APOCIII-LRx, all of which the company exclusively licensed from Ionis.

Akcea plans to submit regulatory applications in 3Q17 for the most advanced, volanesorsen, which is an apolipoprotein C-III (APOCIII; APOC3) antisense inhibitor. In January, Ionis and Akcea granted Novartis exclusive, worldwide options to develop and commercialize AKCEA-APO(a)-LRx and AKCEA-APOCIII-LRx after Phase II development is complete. Akcea expects data in mid-2018 from an ongoing Phase IIb trial of AKCEA-APO(a)-LRx to reduce elevated lipoprotein(a) (LPA) levels. Data are due next half from a Phase I/II trial of AKCEA-APOCIII-LRx to treat elevated triglycerides (see BioCentury, Jan. 13)...