Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. announced that GSK has initiated a Phase 1 study of IONIS-HBV-LRx. Ionis earned a $1.5 million milestone payment from GSK related to the initiation of this study. IONIS-HBV-LRx, which was previously referred to as ISIS-GSK6-LRx, is a drug Ionis is developing with GSK for the treatment of patients with hepatitis B virus (HBV).

IONIS-HBV-LRx incorporates Ionis' LIgand Conjugated Antisense (LICA) technology that increases drug potency by enhancing delivery of the drug to its target tissue, which for this drug is the liver. Ionis and GSK are also collaborating on the development of IONIS-HBVRx, a generation 2.0+ antisense HBV drug. Both IONIS-HBVRx and IONIS-HBV-LRx are part of Ionis's alliance with GSK.