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Drug Discovery and Development

GSK could pay Arrowhead $1B to develop NASH RNAi therapeutic 

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Arrowhead/GSKArrowhead Pharmaceuticals (NSDQ:ARWR) has signed an exclusive license agreement with GlaxoSmithKline (NYSE:GSK) related to Arrowhead’s experimental RNA interference (RNAi) therapeutic ARO-HSD.

The drug is now the subject of a Phase 1/2 study focusing on the drug’s potential as a treatment for nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH), which involves liver inflammation and can cause cirrhosis and liver failure.

ARO-HSD has “the potential to be the first investigational therapeutic to achieve robust reductions in mRNA and protein levels of hepatic HSD17B13, leading to reductions in ALT, a liver enzyme typically elevated in liver diseases such as NASH,” said Christopher Anzalone, Arrowhead’s president and CEO, in a statement.

In exchange for an exclusive license to develop and commercialize the drug throughout the world apart from in China, GSK will make an upfront payment to Arrowhead of $120 million. GSK stands to earn an additional $30 million once the Phase 2 study begins and another $100 million once the Phase 2 trial readout is completed and the first patient is dosed in a Phase 3 study. In addition, GSK will pay $190 million should the drug receive regulatory approval and up to $590 million in sales-based milestone payments. The total of those payments would be $1.03 billion. On top of that, Arrowhead could also receive additional tiered royalty payments.

Arrowhead initiated the Phase 1/2 study of ARO-HSD last year.

Filed Under: Hepatology
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About The Author

Brian Buntz

As the pharma and biotech editor at WTWH Media, Brian has almost two decades of experience in B2B media, with a focus on healthcare and technology. While he has long maintained a keen interest in AI, more recently Brian has made making data analysis a central focus, and is exploring tools ranging from NLP and clustering to predictive analytics.

Throughout his 18-year tenure, Brian has covered an array of life science topics, including clinical trials, medical devices, and drug discovery and development. Prior to WTWH, he held the title of content director at Informa, where he focused on topics such as connected devices, cybersecurity, AI and Industry 4.0. A dedicated decade at UBM saw Brian providing in-depth coverage of the medical device sector. Engage with Brian on LinkedIn or drop him an email at bbuntz@wtwhmedia.com.

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