A biotech experiment ends where it started
Back in 2017, Ionis Pharmaceuticals believed that its cardiovascular pipeline would be better served in the hands of a standalone public company. Three years and one FDA rejection later, Ionis is reversing that process and concluding a corporate experiment.
Akcea Therapeutics, which went public at $8 a share, will become part of Ionis once more in an $18.15-per-share acquisition. On paper, that’s a sizable return for anyone who bought into the IPO. But Ionis’s stated goal in the Akcea project was to build a sustainable company that could develop and market therapies on its own. By that metric, the company was less than a success.
Akcea’s first treatment, the rare disease drug Waylivra, was rejected by the FDA in 2018, leading to a round of layoffs. The company had better luck with Tegsedi, approved later that year, but competition with Alnylam and Pfizer led to disappointing sales. In 2019, Akcea’s top three executives all left at the same time. Before the news of Ionis’s acquisition, Akcea was trading at less than $12 a share.
Akcea Therapeutics, which went public at $8 a share, will become part of Ionis once more in an $18.15-per-share acquisition. On paper, that’s a sizable return for anyone who bought into the IPO. But Ionis’s stated goal in the Akcea project was to build a sustainable company that could develop and market therapies on its own. By that metric, the company was less than a success.
Akcea’s first treatment, the rare disease drug Waylivra, was rejected by the FDA in 2018, leading to a round of layoffs. The company had better luck with Tegsedi, approved later that year, but competition with Alnylam and Pfizer led to disappointing sales. In 2019, Akcea’s top three executives all left at the same time. Before the news of Ionis’s acquisition, Akcea was trading at less than $12 a share.
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