Madrigal Licenses Six Preclinical siRNA Programs
Madrigal Pharmaceuticals has announced an exclusive global licensing agreement with Suzhou Ribo Life Science and its subsidiary Ribocure. The deal gives Madrigal rights to six preclinical small interfering RNA (siRNA) programs aimed at treating metabolic dysfunction-associated steatohepatitis (MASH). The agreement expands Madrigal's pipeline with gene-silencing therapeutics.
- The deal includes a $60 million upfront payment to Ribo, with potential for up to $4.4 billion in milestone payments across the six programs, plus royalties on net sales. - This acquisition significantly expands Madrigal's MASH pipeline to over 10 programs, building on its foundational therapy, Rezdiffra (resmetirom), which was the first MASH treatment to receive FDA approval. - The licensed technology from Ribo utilizes the Ribo-GalSTAR™ platform, a liver-targeting system that uses GalNAc ligands to deliver the siRNA molecules directly into hepatocytes to silence disease-driving genes. - Madrigal's strategy is to explore combination therapies; the new siRNA programs, which reduce the production of proteins implicated in MASH, will be evaluated for synergistic effects with Rezdiffra, a THR-β agonist. - Beyond the Ribo deal, Madrigal's pipeline also includes ervogastat, a Phase 2 oral DGAT-2 inhibitor licensed from Pfizer, and MGL-2086, an oral GLP-1 receptor agonist, showcasing a multi-pronged approach to treating MASH. - The specific genetic targets of the six preclinical siRNA programs have not been disclosed, but the assets include both single-target and dual-target candidates. - Madrigal plans to begin IND-enabling activities for the initial siRNA candidates in 2026. - This is the second major MASH-focused siRNA partnership for Suzhou Ribo, which also entered a multi-target deal with Boehringer Ingelheim in early 2024 potentially worth over $2 billion.
