Janssen and Arrowhead strike $3.7bn RNAi deal

Janssen has struck a deal with Arrowhead Pharmaceuticals to develop an RNA interference drug to treat hepatitis B viral infection, worth up to $3.7 billion.
This year saw the first-ever approval of an RNA interference therapy – Alnylam’s Onpattro (patisiran) works by silencing a gene that causes the rare disease hereditary transthyretin-mediated amyloidosis (hATTR).
Janssen hopes to use the technology to silence the genetic material that allows hepatitis B to become established in the body, gaining exclusive worldwide rights to develop and market ARO-HBV, a subcutaneous RNAi therapy that could cure the disease.