Akcea Therapeutics, Inc. announced that, following a strategic portfolio decision by Novartis not to exercise its option, Akcea has retained rights to develop and commercialize AKCEA-APOCIII-LRx. AKCEA-APOCIII-LRx was discovered by Ionis and is being co-developed by Akcea and Ionis. It is an antisense drug developed using Ionis’ advanced LIgand Conjugated Antisense (LICA) technology platform. It is designed to reduce the production of apolipoprotein C-III, or apoC-III, which is potentially a key target for addressing multiple diseases including FCS and cardiovascular disease, or CVD. AKCEA-APOCIII-LRx is currently in Phase 2 clinical development to treat patients with hypertriglyceridemia and CVD. Akcea and Ionis remain on track to announce topline results from this Phase 2 clinical study in early 2020.