Madrigal, China’s Suzhou Ribo sign license deal for liver‑disease programs

Feb 11 (Reuters) – Madrigal Pharmaceuticals said on Wednesday it has entered into a global licensing deal with China-based Suzhou Ribo Life Science for six preclinical small interfering RNA programs to treat a type of liver disease.

Under the deal, Madrigal gets exclusive rights to develop, manufacture and commercialize the six siRNA compounds.

The Chinese biotech will get an upfront payment of $60 million, with total payments across the programs potentially reaching up to $4.4 billion if certain milestones are met. Suzhou Ribo will also receive royalties on future net sales.

U.S. drugmakers have been increasingly looking to China to secure the rights to promising drug candidates at a lower cost and access important early data that could pave the way for global trials.

The agreement, which also involves Suzhou Ribo’s unit Ribocure, is for the development of therapies to treat metabolic dysfunction-associated steatohepatitis.

MASH is a serious liver disease that can progress to cirrhosis, liver failure, liver cancer, need for liver transplantation and premature mortality.

Madrigal’s drug, Rezdiffra, was approved by the U.S. FDA in March 2024 for the treatment of MASH with moderate to advanced liver fibrosis, but not with cirrhosis of the liver.

The U.S.-based company said the siRNA therapies are designed to selectively silence genes that drive the progression of MASH, supporting its push to pair genetically targeted therapies with Rezdiffra.

Madrigal’s CEO Bill Sibold said the licensing deal strengthens drugmaker’s shift from a single-product company to one with a broad portfolio targeting different mechanisms of MASH.

The company is currently studying Rezdiffra in patients with compensated MASH cirrhosis in a late-stage study.

(Reporting by Siddhi Mahatole in Bengaluru; Editing by Shailesh Kuber)