Novartis has returned to Argo Biopharmaceutical with $160 million in upfront cash to explore various cardiovascular meds in the Chinese biotech’s siRNA pipeline.
The latest deal will allow Novartis to explore ANGPTL3—an RNAi therapeutic in phase 2 trials—in a combination study for dyslipidemia. The Swiss pharma will also have first right of negotiation to secure the license to ANGPTL3 further down the line.
This morning’s multifaceted agreement also gives Novartis the license to a preclinical liver-delivered siRNA candidate outside of China. The drug is due to enter an international phase 1 study next year, and the companies have the option to share profits in both China and the U.S.
Finally, Novartis has secured the option to license the ex-China rights for two discovery-stage, next-gen molecules being developed for mixed dyslipidemia and a related lipid disorder called hypertriglyceridemia.
As well as the $160 million upfront fee, Argo will also be in line for milestone and option payments that could add up to $5.2 billion, alongside tiered royalties. Novartis also plans to participate in Argo’s next equity financing round.
Today’s agreement follows a deal in January 2024 that saw Novartis hand over $185 million upfront for rights to two of Argo's clinical-phase RNAi cardiovascular disease programs.
Dongxu Shu, Ph.D., and Patrick Shao, Ph.D., both of whom once worked at Arrowhead Pharmaceuticals, co-founded Argo in 2021. When they announced the first collaboration with Novartis last year, Shu called the alliance the “first significant overseas out-licensing transaction in the RNAi field from a Chinese biotech company.”
In this morning’s release, Shu said the company was “thrilled to deepen our collaboration with Novartis, a global leader in cardiovascular, renal and metabolic areas.”
“This new collaboration further supports the innovation engine Argo has built to deliver best-in-class siRNA therapeutics while building a top-tier clinical development team across multiple geographies,” Shu added. “Argo’s ambition is to become a global biotech, and corporate development activities are an important component to expand the reach of our hepatic and ex-hepatic siRNA therapeutics.”
Novartis’ cardiovascular offering already includes the bad-cholesterol–lowering med Leqvio alongside the heart failure medication Entresto. The pharma’s late-stage pipeline features pelacarsen, an antisense med aimed at preventing cardiovascular events in patients with elevated levels of lipoprotein(a).
“Long-acting siRNAs which are designed to deeply and durably target disease-causing proteins represent an important paradigm shift in prevention and treatment of cardiovascular diseases,” Shaun Coughlin, M.D., Ph.D., global head of cardiovascular and metabolism at the Novartis Institute for Biomedical Research, said in today’s release.
“We are excited to build on our work with Argo through these new agreements, which include additional molecules,” Coughlin added.
Back in June, Novartis doled out $25 million upfront as part of a four-year pact with ProFound Therapeutics to create new treatments for heart disease.