By Colin Kellaher

 

Shares of Dicerna Pharmaceuticals Inc. (DRNA) rose nearly 18% on Monday after the biopharmaceutical company said it would collaborate with Novo Nordisk A/S (NVO) to develop therapies for liver-related cardio-metabolic diseases.

Dicerna will a $175 million upfront payment and a $50 million equity investment from Novo, and it is eligible for up to $357.5 million in milestone payments per target under the deal.

Dicerna late last month announced a similar deal with Roche Holding AG (ROG.EB) focused on chronic hepatitis B virus infection that is worth up to $1.67 billion in upfront and milestone payments to Dicerna.

Analysts at SVB Leerink, which have an "outperform" rating on Dicerna shares, said the deals further validate the company's GalXC-RNAi platform and "superb execution."

Dicerna shares were recently up 17.9%, to $22.75.

 

Write to Colin Kellaher at colin.kellaher@wsj.com

 

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

November 18, 2019 10:54 ET (15:54 GMT)

Copyright (c) 2019 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
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