Avidity Biosciences, a San Diego-based biopharmaceutical company, has announced a significant expansion of its ongoing collaboration with Bristol Myers Squibb to identify and develop new treatments for cardiovascular disease. The collaboration is focused on researching antibody oligonucleotide conjugates (AOCs), a newer class of RNA therapeutics that target the root cause of specific diseases and increase the potential for treatment.
Under the updated agreement, Avidity will receive an upfront payment of $100 million from Bristol Myers Squibb that includes $60 million in cash and the purchase of $40 million of Avidity stock sold at a price of $7.88 per share. Avidity will also be eligible for multiple milestone payments that could ultimately make the deal worth as much as $2.3 billion. In addition, Bristol Myers Squibb agreed to fund all clinical research that comes out of this collaboration; Avidity’s other AOC research will be kept completely separate.
“This strategic collaboration solidifies our commitment in cardiology as we continue to advance our own research and development programs in cardiac indications,” Sarah Boyce, president and chief executive officer at Avidity, said in a statement. “We look forward to broadening the utility of the AOC platform to address debilitating diseases previously unreachable with existing RNA therapies.”
“This collaboration with Avidity represents an important part of our continued investment in innovative therapeutic approaches that have the potential to provide transformative outcomes to patients living with serious cardiovascular conditions,” added Francisco Ramírez-Valle, MD, PhD, senior vice president and head of the Immunology & Cardiovascular Thematic Research Center at Bristol Myers Squibb. “Aligned with our focus on causal human biology and efforts to successfully match therapeutic modalities to disease mechanism, our R&D organization will continue to leverage technologies like Avidity's AOC platform to identify meaningful targets and develop new medicines for patients in need.”
Michael has more than 16 years of experience as a professional writer and editor. He has written at length about cardiology, radiology, artificial intelligence and other key healthcare topics.