Isis Pharmaceuticals this week announced that the US Food and Drug Administration has fast tracked its antisense-based transthyretin amyloidosis drug ISIS-TTRRx for use in patients with familial amyloid polyneuropathy, the rarer form of the disease.
The drug is being developed by Isis in collaboration with GlaxoSmithKline. A phase II/III study is expected to start this month, triggering a $7.5 million milestone payment from GlaxoSmithKline, Isis said.
Alnylam Pharmaceuticals is developing an RNAi-based treatment for ATTR, ALN-TTR02, which is in phase II testing and was recently partnered with Sanofi subsidiary Genzyme in Asia (GSN 10/25/2012).