Arrowhead Pharmaceuticals (ARWR) hasn’t been brought to my...

Arrowhead Pharmaceuticals (ARWR) hasn’t been brought to my attention by a broker/advisor and I’m certainly not suggesting that PYC will be valued at US$9bn within three years. But I do view Arrowhead as an example of what can be achieved in this space within a relatively short timeframe, by leveraging the right delivery platform.

I’ve brought attention to Arrowhead for a number of reasons.

First, its deal with Horizon highlights the high potential value that assets can have even while still at discovery stage. Provided clinical validation in a lead asset has already been achieved.

Second, the two companies seem to me to have a similar approach to pipeline building. The following is from Arrowhead’s Q2 Results release last month

Our liver directed pipeline already has six candidates in clinical studies, with additional undisclosed programs in preclinical development. In addition, as you’ve seen over the last couple years, once we achieve clinical validation, each successive candidate in the same cell type builds on learnings from each program that went before it. We believe this provides a higher probability of success and lower risk profile than other modalities. We expect our pipeline to potentially double in size over the next few years.

Finally, over the past 4 years, Arrowhead has swiftly constructed an extensive pipeline, outlicensing multiple assets within that pipeline (its lead asset is now in Phase 2/3). This has all been achieved by leveraging its platform technology, TRiM, which offers ligand-mediated delivery and is designed to enable tissue-specific targeting. It is frankly gob-smacking to look at the trajectory of Arrowhead’s share price over those 4 years – from US$1.50 to US$90.00.