No­var­tis elects to keep one heart drug, dis­card the oth­er from op­tion deal with Akcea, Io­n­is

One heart drug is enough, No­var­tis has sig­naled to Akcea.

The Swiss drug­mak­er tied up with the an­ti­sense com­pa­ny, and close af­fil­i­ate Io­n­is, in 2017. The ex­clu­sive op­tion agree­ment — to de­vel­op and com­mer­cial­ize AKCEA-APO(a)-L and AKCEA-APOC­I­II-L — grant­ed Io­n­is and Akcea $75 mil­lion up­front, in ad­di­tion to mile­stone pay­ments if the drugs were cho­sen, as well as a $100 mil­lion eq­ui­ty in­vest­ment in Io­n­is.

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