Novartis doubles down on RNAi heart drugs with $160M Argo deal

Novartis is investing $160 million upfront in a new partnership with China’s Argo Biopharmaceutical to access multiple RNAi-based cardiovascular therapies, expanding on a prior $185 million deal from January 2024. Argo could earn up to $5.2 billion in milestones and royalties.

Why it matters: This move reinforces Novartis' push into long-acting RNAi therapies as a transformative approach to treating cardiovascular diseases, a top cause of global mortality.

Backstory: Argo, founded in 2021 by Arrowhead veterans, became the first Chinese biotech to ink a major RNAi licensing deal with a global pharma when it partnered with Novartis last year. That initial alliance covered two clinical-stage programs.

Big picture: RNAi therapies are gaining momentum as a novel way to silence disease-causing genes, and Novartis is positioning itself as a key player in this emerging field with Novartis´ already impressive cardio portfolio of Leqvio and Entresto, with late-stage candidate pelacarsen also in the mix.

Zoom in: Novartis is already investing up to $2.2 billion in the licensing of an RNAi therapy for Parkinson´s from Arrowhead and is following a pattern by working with Argo. In keeping with this pattern, Novartis plans to invest in Argo’s next equity round. The company has purchased the rights to ANGPTL3 (in phase 2 for dyslipidemia) and a preclinical siRNA drug targeting the liver alongside ex-China options on two discovery-stage siRNA molecules for mixed dyslipidemia and hypertriglyceridemia.