Roche, Isis in Huntington's deal
Roche (SIX:ROG; OTCQX:RHHBY) and Isis Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ:ISIS) partnered to develop therapies to treat Huntington's disease (HD). Isis will use its antisense oligonucleotide technology to discover and develop therapeutics that block production of all forms of the huntingtin (HTT) protein, as well as production of the disease-causing forms of HTT. Isis will fund development through Phase I testing, after which Roche has an exclusive option to license worldwide rights to develop and commercialize therapeutics.
Additionally, the partners will combine Isis' technology with Roche technology that uses transferrin receptor protein 1 ( TFRC; TFR; CD71) to shuttle antibodies from one side of the blood-brain barrier to the other to increase brain penetration of antisense oligonucleotide therapeutics administered to asymptomatic patients. ...