2015年1月7日訊 / --2015年伊始，位于加州卡爾斯巴德市的生物技術公司Isis醫藥公司再迎來一個開門紅。Isis生物技術公司與強生公司簽訂了一項價值高達8億3千5百萬美元的合作協議，共同開發用于治療腸道自身免疫疾病的RNA藥物。
這份協議中包括了3500萬美元的預付款和高達8億美元的里程碑獎金，同時Isis公司還將從產品中分享版權費。這也是繼阿斯利康公司擴大與Isis醫藥公司的合作之后，Isis公司迎來的又一項重大合作關系。雙方并未透露此次合作的具體細節，僅表示這一協議中包括了約三項藥物研發工作。
作為一家新型藥物研發公司，Isis醫藥公司在RNA輸送技術方面有著強大的優勢。利用在該領域的優勢，Isis醫藥公司已經與包括強生、阿斯利康、羅氏、百健艾迪以及葛蘭素史克公司在RNA藥物研發領域建立了一系列密切合作。而截止到目前，Isis醫藥公司共有34項藥物項處于研發階段。
著名市場研究公司Allied發表報告稱，未來RNA藥物將呈現高速增長趨勢，到2020年，這類藥物銷售額將有望突破12億美元，平均年增長率將保持在28.4%左右。這一報告一經出爐，立刻引起了業界、投資者和科學家們的關注。
Alliedg公司指出，隨著近年來載藥系統技術研究的突破，困擾RNA藥物的最大難題正在被克服。因此科學家有望利用RNAi的方法來治療包括癌癥在內的眾多疾病。（相關閱讀：RNAi藥物或將成為未來醫藥市場新貴）
不過，有人認為RNA藥物尚面臨著諸多的不確定性，一方面是藥物輸送還存在一些問題，另一方面許多專家對RNA藥物的副作用心存疑慮。這也體現在一些制藥巨頭蜂擁進入，相繼開展相關研究；而另一些醫藥公司如諾華公司等則選擇退出，作壁上觀。（力太生物litebio.com）
相關閱讀：Moderna再獲4億5千萬風投劍指mRNA藥物研發
詳細英文報道：
You can now count Johnson & Johnson ($JNJ) among the roster of big companies to ally itself with Isis Pharmaceuticals' ($ISIS) R&D group. J&J has stepped up with an $835 million pact to develop new drugs for autoimmune diseases of the gastrointestinal tract with the RNA specialists at Isis.
Just a few months after AstraZeneca ($AZN) expanded its development work with Isis, J&J is paying $35 million upfront and offering up to $800 million in milestones for the deal. Isis also stands to earn royalties from any marketed drugs that comes from its antisense technology platform.
The deal covers three programs and marks an extension of the Carlsbad, CA-based company's active partnering operation, which has attracted a Who's Who in the biopharma business. In addition to AstraZeneca, Isis has lured in Biogen Idec ($BIIB), Roche ($RHHBY) and GlaxoSmithKline ($GSK) with its antisense tech. Isis' partner Genzyme, a subsidiary of Sanofi ($SNY), is commercializing Kynamro, which got off to a slow start in 2014. The biotech also has a full pipeline of 34 new drugs in development.
Shares of Isis jumped about 5% this morning. The company is occasionally tapped as a likely takeover target, though nothing has come of the rumors yet.
RNA has had its ups and downs over the years as Big Pharma either jumped in, bowed out or reentered the field. Today's move by J&J, though, marks another big bet in its favor.
"We are the leader in RNA-targeted therapeutics and our innovation and the successes of our pipeline drugs enable us to form collaborations, like this one, with leaders in specific therapeutic areas," noted Isis COO B. Lynne Parshall in a statement. "This partnering strategy ensures that we have access to resources that support and enhance our drug discovery efforts and also provides us with collaborators, like Janssen, who are uniquely capable of conducting development, marketing and commercial efforts for these drugs."
