Arrowhead, Vivo Form Visirna to Take on China RNAi Market

Arrowhead Pharmaceuticals and Vivo Capital have announced a new joint venture, Visirna Therapeutics, to take on the Greater China Market. The new unit will set up shop in Shanghai with $60 million from Vivo and four RNAi candidates from Arrowhead, with a goal to develop and commercialize cardiometabolic disease-focused products in mainland China, Hong Kong, Macau, and Taiwan.

Vivo has pledged network support for Visirna, and will help the fledgling biotech assemble its leadership team and business model. 

Arrowhead, which exclusively licensed the four RNAi candidates to Visirna to develop in the Greater China region, will own a majority stake in the company. Arrowhead will also receive royalties on future product sales. 

While still a relatively new approach, RNAi is a natural cellular mechanism that could rapidly inhibit the expression of a specific gene, thereby affecting the production of a specific protein. 

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A Localized Entity 

“We believe that the best way to get important new medicines to patients in China as quickly and effectively as possible is to have a dedicated entity with its own management and develop staff that understand and are solely focused on the intricacies of China’s clinical, regulatory, and commercial environment,” said Christopher Anzalone, Ph.D., president and CEO of Arrowhead. 

Dr: Hongbu Lu, Managing Partner of Vivo Capital, added: “Anchored by these four assets in an advanced development stage, Visirna will be well positioned to be a leading nucleic acid therapeutics platform company and further build its competitive advantage via internal R&D and strategic acquisitions of additional products.”

Arrowhead’s Plans for NASH Treatment in China

The identities of the four RNAi drugs have not been disclosed, but Arrowhead’s China ambitions date back before Visirna. 

Last November, the US company struck a deal worth $1 billion with GlaxoSmithKline involving its RNAi therapy ARO-HSD, an early clinical treatment for non-alcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH). 

Back then, Arrowhead held back the rights to develop and market ARO-HSD in China, believing that there was considerable opportunity in the region. 

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Joy Lin

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