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news.Xenon Pharmaceuticals has acquired exclusive worldwide license rights to Isis Pharmaceuticals' antisense drug, XEN701, by exercising an option and paying $2m to Isis.
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As part of a collaboration between both the parties, which was signed in 2010, Xenon will now be responsible for all future development and commercialization of XEN701.
XEN701 will be developed by Xenon for chronic kidney disease patients intolerant of or are poor responders to erythropoietin (Epo) therapy.
Currently being evaluated for advancement into clinical development, XEN701 is designed to inhibit the production of hepcidin target identified by Xenon leveraging its extreme genetics platform against anemia of chronic disorders (ACD).
Xenon president and CEO Simon Pimstone said, "XEN701 has the potential to provide significant therapeutic benefit to patients with ACD through a novel non-Epo receptor based mechanism and we are looking forward to initiating clinic studies with this compound."
Isis chief operating officer Lynne Parshall said that the partnership with Xenon helps the company to expand the breadth of its antisense drug pipeline, while staying focused on internal drug discovery and development activities.