Wave, GSK enter strategic collaboration

Shares of Wave Life Sciences Ltd. jumped about 17% in premarket trading on Tuesday after the company announced a four-year strategic collaboration with GlaxoSmithKline to develop oligonucleotide therapeutics. Wave is already testing WVE-006, an experimental oligonucleotide treatment, for alpha-1 antitrypsin deficiency, a genetic disease that causes liver and lung disease, in preclinical research. GSK will make a $170 million upfront payment to Wave in cash and equity, with up to $525 million in potential milestone payments for the WVE-006 program and up to $375 million in potential milestone payments for the other programs. Wave’s stock is up 14.9% year-to-date, while the S&P 500 is down 16.2%.

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