Isis Earns GSK Milestone

Isis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. has earned a $1 million payment from GlaxoSmithKline for the advancement of its development program for antisense drugs to treat hepatitis B virus (HBV).
 
As part the alliance, Isis is discovering and developing drugs to treat HBV, which GSK has the exclusive option to in-license for further development and commercialization, following clinical proof of concept. Isis is eligible to earn pre-licensing payments and royalties on sales from any product under the alliance.
 
“Our collaboration with GSK has been very productive resulting in three novel antisense drugs in our pipeline. We look forward to continuing to advance these drugs and add additional new drugs to our pipeline with GSK,” said B. Lynne Parshall, chief operating officer at Isis. “Including the $1 million announced today, we have earned $11 million in payments from GSK to discover and develop drugs for HBV.”