Ionis Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ:IONS) partner GSK Plc (NYSE:GSK) on Wednesday shared data from two pivotal Phase 3 studies, B-Well 1 and B-Well 2, of bepirovirsen, an investigational antisense oligonucleotide for chronic hepatitis B (CHB). The studies included over 1,800 patients.

GSK licensed bepirovirsen from Ionis in 2019. The two companies have collaborated on its development.

Under the terms of the agreement, Ionis received an upfront payment, license fee, and development milestone payments, and is eligible to receive an additional $150 million in regulatory and sales milestone payments, as well as tiered royalties of 10-12% on net sales of bepirovirsen.

CHB affects over 250 million people worldwide and is the leading cause of liver cancer.

Data

The B-Well studies met their primary endpoint, and bepirovirsen demonstrated a statistically significant and clinically meaningful functional cure rate.

Functional cure rates were significantly higher with bepirovirsen ...