The co-commercialization agreement with AstraZeneca, which brought Ionis a partner as it launched its first product and established its commercial operation, was a lynchpin in the company’s FIBCO plan.

“AstraZeneca has been a long-standing partner with Ionis in the cardiometabolic space,” Monia said. “This is a drug, eplontersen, for polyneuropathy but, more than that, it's really a drug for a broader indication of cardiomyopathy. They're a leader in heart failure and they want to maintain their leadership, and they're very excited about TTR amyloidosis.”

The idea to co-develop and co-commercialize eplontersen “came out of a casual, regular update conversation I had with leadership at AstraZeneca, in which we brought each other up to speed on priorities for the organizations,” Monia explained. “I said, ‘This isn't out-licensing. Co-commercialization is what we're looking for to help us build our commercial organization, and to get our legs under us.”

Cadoret-Manier noted that Ionis may have had capacity to tackle the ATTR polyneuropathy launch on its own, but ATTR cardiomyopathy is a different story, since it is a larger market and – for now – somewhat less familiar territory for the company.

“I'm not sure the markets will give us the generosity to give us all of the operating expenses that you need and the lead time that it takes before you're going to deliver on the cardiomyopathy launch,” she said. “So, thinking about that, AstraZeneca is just the perfect partner.

Ionis Finds Its Footing Ahead Of Its First Big Commercial Step

CEO Brett Monia Took The Helm At Start Of Transition

More from New Products

More from Scrip