Conshohocken-based Madrigal Pharmaceuticals, Inc. announced recently it obtained exclusive global licensing agreements for six gene silencing therapies.
The company said the agreement is with Suzhou Ribo Life Science Co. Ltd., and its subsidiary Ribocure Pharmaceuticals AB. Ribo has granted Madrigal an exclusive global license to develop, manufacture and commercialize six siRNA compounds. Ribo will receive an upfront payment of $60 million and cumulative payments across the programs could reach $4.4 billion if certain milestones are achieved, as well as royalties on net sales.
siRNAs provide a precision approach to MASH gene silencing by selectively reducing the production of disease-driving proteins.
“We believe meeting future patient needs in MASH will require combination approaches and treatments tailored to genetic drivers of disease. Madrigal is uniquely positioned to shape the future treatment landscape in this rapidly expanding market,” Bill Sibold, CEO of Madrigal, said. “At the start of 2025, Madrigal was a single-product company launching the first medication for MASH. Today, we have the foundational therapy in Rezdiffra, a fully enrolled F4c outcomes study, and an industry-leading MASH pipeline with more than 10 programs targeting different drivers of the disease.”
The agreement will expand Madrigal’s pipeline, which now includes more than 10 programs at multiple stages of development. In addition to a fully enrolled Phase 3 study of its foundational siRNA product, Rezdiffra, in compensated MASH cirrhosis, Madrigal’s MASH pipeline includes MGL-2086, an oral GLP-1 receptor agonist entering first-in-human studies in the second quarter of 2026; and Ervogastat, a Phase 2 oral DGAT-2 inhibitor. The company plans to conduct a drug-to-drug interaction study with Rezdiffra and consult with the FDA on the design of a Phase 2 combination trial for Ervogastat this year.