GSK pays $12 million to Wave for liver-focused siRNA program, expanding its RNA drug pipeline

GSK is paying Wave Life Sciences $12 million upfront to take ownership of a hepatic program that emerged from their long‑running collaboration.

The payment follows a 2022 agreement in which GSK paid $170 million for the option to advance up to eight RNA programs, having already selected four and with three more being prepared for selection.

The newly announced effort centers on a small interfering RNA (siRNA) candidate aimed at liver disease, and Wave stands to receive up to $375 million in milestone payments and royalties if the therapy reaches the market.

Wave’s platform uniquely offers three RNA‑targeting modalities-editing, splicing and silencing-while GSK already has a liver‑focused siRNA candidate, gatuzosiran, in phase‑2 trials for steatotic liver disease.