Genzyme, Isis Finalize Partnership For Cholesterol-Lowering Drug

Cambridge, MA-based Genzyme and Isis Pharmaceuticals said today they have modified some of the terms of their partnership to develop Isis’s mipomersen for patients with high cholesterol. The deal, originally announced with a bang in January, still provides $325 million in upfront payments to Carlsbad, CA-based Isis for the antisense RNA-based drug, although it now shifts $50 million more of the drug’s development costs to Isis.

Three months after the original deal was struck, investors in the companies got a bitter pill. The FDA asked Isis (NASDAQ: [[ticker:ISIS]]) for more study data that is expected to delay the drug’s market application for a year, until 2010. That sent Isis stock plunging 29 percent that day, April 25. Genzyme (NASDAQ: [[ticker:GENZ]]) will now take the lead on future discussions with regulators, the companies said.

Author: Luke Timmerman

Luke is an award-winning journalist specializing in life sciences. He has served as national biotechnology editor for Xconomy and national biotechnology reporter for Bloomberg News. Luke got started covering life sciences at The Seattle Times, where he was the lead reporter on an investigation of doctors who leaked confidential information about clinical trials to investors. The story won the Scripps Howard National Journalism Award and several other national prizes. Luke holds a bachelor’s degree in journalism from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, and during the 2005-2006 academic year, he was a Knight Science Journalism Fellow at MIT.