With FDA Approval for RNAi Drug, Arrowhead Pharma Starts Price War With Rival Ionis

An Arrowhead Pharmaceuticals RNA drug has passed the regulatory bar for treating a disease that leads to dangerously high levels of fat in the blood, marking the first FDA approval for the company and the second product approval in the past year for this rare metabolic disorder. But even though Arrowhead’s genetic medicine is second to market, the biotech aims to stand apart from rival Ionis Pharmaceuticals with a commercialization strategy that highlights key differences for both patients and payers, in this disease as well as in future indications.

The indication covered by the Tuesday FDA regulatory decision is familial chylomicronemia syndrome (FCS) , a genetic disease that leads to extremely high blood levels of triglycerides, a type of fat. Arrowhead’s drug, known in development