BioCentury
ARTICLE | Product Development

Deals with Empirico and Aro to help Ionis bring new targets, tissues to early-stage pipeline

Ionis taps two startups’ platforms to broaden the reach of its antisense oligonucleotides

January 9, 2020 10:53 PM UTC
Updated on Jan 10, 2020 at 9:26 PM UTC

Ionis is turning to two young biotechs to build off the success of its antisense oligonucleotides and expand the reach of its platform. The company announced a pair of deals with Empirico and Aro on Thursday, designed to bring antisense therapeutics into new tissues and indications.

The deals see the tables turned for Ionis Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ:IONS), a company that survived for years through deals in which it was the smaller partner. ...