GSK is continuing to bolster its siRNA portfolio by paying $40 million upfront for a pair of oligonucleotide therapies from China’s Frontier Biotechnologies.
The companies didn’t offer many details about the candidates nor their potential targets, but they did disclose that Frontier has already taken one of them into a phase 1 study in China. The biotech is in the process of “completing IND-enabling activities” for the other, preclinical, drug, according to a Feb. 24 release.
Once the phase 1 and IND activities, respectively, have been completed, GSK will take on responsibility for clinical development, regulatory submissions and commercialization activities globally.
As well as the $40 million in upfront cash, GSK is also liable to pay up to $963 million in milestones as well as tiered royalties on potential net sales worldwide.
In a statement, Frontier CEO Dong Xie, Ph.D., said this morning’s deal “reflects the growing recognition of our R&D capabilities.”
“This agreement will solidify a robust foundation for Frontier Biotech by deepening international collaborations, accelerating pipeline value conversion, and potentially achieving commercialization,” the CEO added.
Back in September, Frontier showcased data from animal studies of two of its siRNA candidates, dubbed FB7011 and FB7013, which both target MASP-2 as a potential treatment for a chronic immune kidney disease called IgA nephropathy. The company is best known for Aikening, which is China’s first new anti-HIV drug.
GSK is no stranger to oligonucleotides, which are short strands of synthetic DNA or RNA that can reduce, restore or modulate RNA through several different mechanisms. The British pharma’s oligonucleotide pipeline is led by bepirovirsen, a collaboration with Ionis Pharmaceuticals that recently aced a pair of phase 3 trials as a potential “functional cure” for hepatitis B virus infection.
Related
The oligo portfolio also includes a collaboration with Arrowhead Pharmaceuticals for fatty liver disease, various assets acquired from Wave Life Sciences and a nonexclusive license to Elsie Biotechnologies’ platform. More recently, GSK paid $85 million upfront to Empirico for the rights to a siRNA oligonucleotide in phase 1 development for chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.
Kaivan Khavandi, M.D., Ph.D., GSK’s head of respiratory, immunology and inflammation R&D, said this morning’s deal with Frontier “further strengthens our immunology pipeline, adding two potential first-in-class oligonucleotide therapies with significant opportunity to improve patient outcomes across multiple kidney diseases.”
“These assets are well-aligned with our strategic focus on platform technologies and inflammatory-driven disease, and we look forward to working with Frontier Biotech to progress them through development,” Khavandi added in a statement.
