BOSTON - Akcea Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ: AKCA), a majority-owned affiliate of Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc., and Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ: IONS), announced that results from a Phase 2 study evaluating AKCEA-APO(a)-LRx, also known as TQJ230, in patients with established cardiovascular disease (CVD) and elevated levels of lipoprotein(a), or Lp(a), were published today in The New England Journal of Medicine (NEJM).

The article is titled 'Lipoprotein(a) Reduction in Persons with Cardiovascular Disease.'

Elevated Lp(a) is an independent, genetic risk factor for CVD that cannot be well controlled with lifestyle modifications such as diet or exercise or with treatment using existing lipid-lowering therapies. It is estimated that there are more than eight million patients living with CVD and elevated levels of Lp(a) worldwide. AKCEA-APO(a)-LRx was discovered by Ionis and co-developed through Phase 2 by Akcea and Ionis. It is an antisense medicine developed using Ionis' advanced LICA technology designed to inhibit the production of apolipoprotein(a) and thus reduce Lp(a) levels.

'The Phase 2 study data show that we can get 98% of patients below 125 nmol/L (

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