Belgian RNA technology company etherna immunotherapies NV announced on Thursday that it has partnered with Dropshot Therapeutics, a US-based early-stage biotechnology company.

This collaboration combines the platforms of both companies to accelerate the development of RNA-based therapeutics for the development of multiple new drug candidates across several indications. Under the agreement, etherna will receive an upfront payment and research funding, and potentially milestone payments during development and tiered royalties following product launch, together estimated to be up to USD950m.

The collaboration builds on Dropshot's prior evaluation of etherna's mRNA and lipid-based nanoparticle (LNP) platforms and is intended to create novel proprietary therapeutics based on etherna's mRNA and its LNP formulations to move rapidly from pre-clinical animal studies into clinical human studies.

Bernard Sagaert, etherna CEO, said: "This agreement underscores etherna's commitment to driving innovation through collaboration. Dropshot's expertise in heart and kidney disease aligns with etherna's mission to be a technology leader in the development of nucleic acid-based medicines. etherna aims to empower our partners to create transformative therapeutics and improve patients' lives."