Boehringer Ingelheim GmbH’s start to the new year includes two fresh deals across two continents. BI struck one deal with Kunshan, China-based Suzhou Ribo Life Science Co. Ltd. and its Mölndal, Sweden-based subsidiary, Ribocure Pharmaceuticals AB, to develop small interfering RNA (siRNA) treatments for nonalcoholic or metabolic dysfunction-associated steatohepatitis. It struck a second deal with San Francisco-based 3T Biosciences Inc. to develop cancer immunotherapies, which builds on an earlier collaboration formed last year. Combined, the two deals are worth more than $2.5 billion.

Voyager Therapeutics Inc. has selected a lead development candidate for its superoxide dismutase 1 (SOD1)-mutated amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) gene therapy program. The company anticipates filing an IND application for the candidate with the FDA in mid-2025.

Nurexone Biologic Inc. has reported results from laboratory tests of its secondary two proprietary sequences, showing promise for the treatment of spinal cord injuries.

In a deal that could bring Avidity Biosciences Inc. $2.3 billion if all milestones are met, Bristol Myers Squibb Co. gained global rights to Avidity’s antibody oligonucleotide conjugates platform to advance up to five genetic cardiovascular targets. Avidity’s technology, which combines the specificity of monoclonal antibodies with the precision of oligonucleotide therapies, aims to address the root cause of diseases that are untreatable with current RNA therapeutics. Its lead internal programs are based on the targeted delivery of RNA into muscle.

Apolipoprotein C3 (APOC3) is one of the main regulators of triglyceride metabolism. Hypertriglyceridemia (HTG) is a major risk factor for cardiovascular disease and there is evidence that loss-of-function mutations in APOC3 correlate with decreased plasma triglyceride levels and subsequent reduced cardiometabolic dysfunction.

Agios Pharmaceuticals Inc. and Alnylam Pharmaceuticals Inc. have entered into an exclusive worldwide license agreement under which Agios will acquire the rights to develop and commercialize Alnylam’s novel preclinical siRNA targeting TMPRSS6, as a potential disease-modifying treatment for patients with polycythemia vera (PV).

At the ongoing European Association for the Study of the Liver meeting, researchers from Suzhou Ribo Life Science Co. Ltd. presented preclinical data on RBD-1016 in two models of chronic hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection.