AbbVie is staking hundreds of millions of dollars on RNA interference, agreeing on Wednesday to work with biotechnology startup ADARx Pharmaceuticals to develop experimental medicines for neurological conditions, immune diseases and cancer.

AbbVie公司投入了数亿美元于RNA干扰技术，并于周三同意与生物技术初创公司ADARx Pharmaceuticals合作，开发用于神经系统疾病、免疫疾病和癌症的实验性药物。

Under the

在

terms of the deal

交易条款

, AbbVie will pay ADARx $335 million in cash upfront. The startup could receive “several billion dollars” more in the form of option-related fees and downstream payments, though that money isn’t guaranteed. ADARx would also get a share of royalties on any marketed products to emerge from the collaboration. .

AbbVie将向ADARx支付3.35亿美元的现金预付款。这家初创公司还可能以期权相关费用和后续付款的形式获得“数十亿美元”，但这些资金并非保证能够拿到。ADARx还将从合作中产生的任何上市产品获得特许权使用费的分成。

ADARx is part of a new generation of startups

ADARx 是新一代初创公司的一部分

trying to take RNAi interference, a way of silencing disease-causing gene mutations, in new directions

试图将RNA干扰（一种沉默致病基因突变的方法）带向新的方向

. While the technology has been used to make a handful of drugs now on the market, it’s still largely focused on rare conditions and disease targets in the liver. ADARx and

虽然这项技术已经被用来制造现在市场上的一些药物，但它仍然主要集中在罕见病和肝脏疾病靶点上。ADARx和

several

几个

others

其他

are trying to

正在尝试

break beyond

突破界限

those limitations.

这些限制。

The company has

公司已经

drugs in testing

测试中的药物

for rare as well as common conditions, and diseases of the eye and kidney. It also claims to be able to

针对罕见和常见病症，以及眼部和肾脏疾病。它还声称能够

deliver RNAi drugs to the brain

递送RNAi药物到大脑

, an area of focus in its collaboration with AbbVie.

，这是其与AbbVie合作的一个重点领域。

The partners didn’t disclose which specific diseases they’re targeting. But ADARx’s pipeline page shows “multiple” programs underway for central nervous system disorders, along with the planned work in immunology and cancer.

合作伙伴并未透露他们针对哪些特定疾病。但ADARx的管线页面显示，“多项”针对中枢神经系统疾病的项目正在进行中，同时还有计划开展免疫学和癌症方面的工作。

RNAi is “a promising genetic medicine approach for silencing disease-causing genes, but challenges still remain in targeting and delivering [it] effectively,' said Jonathon Sedgwick, AbbVie’s senior vice president and global head of discovery research, in a statement. “Together, we're committed to developing innovative solutions for difficult-to-treat diseases across neuroscience, immunology and oncology.'.

RNAi 是“一种很有前景的基因药物方法，可以沉默致病基因，但在有效靶向和递送方面仍然存在挑战，”艾伯维公司高级副总裁兼全球发现研究主管乔纳森·塞德格威克在一份声明中表示。“我们共同致力于为神经科学、免疫学和肿瘤学领域难以治疗的疾病开发创新解决方案。”

ADARx is backed by more than a dozen investment firms and, last year,

ADARx 获得了十多家投资公司的支持，并且在去年，

raised a $200 million Series C round

筹集了2亿美元的C轮融资

that included several “crossover” investors that back private and publicly traded companies. Alongside its RNAi work, the company is also pursuing

其中包括几家投资私营和上市公司的“跨界”投资者。除了RNAi工作之外，该公司还在追求

RNA editing, another fast-growing area of drug research

RNA编辑，另一个快速增长的药物研究领域

. It hasn’t publicly disclosed any RNA editing programs yet, however.

然而，它还没有公开披露任何RNA编辑项目。