Purdue Pharma has inked its second-largest deal to date by partnering with biotech start-up Exicure Therapeutics to develop treatments for psoriasis and other indications by exploiting Exicure’s SNA™ (spherical nucleic acid) technology. The alliance is potentially worth up to US$790 M, including an undisclosed upfront, milestone payments and an equity investment in Exicure. As part of the deal, Purdue has options to obtain full worldwide rights to the Phase I asset AST-005 and three other collaboration targets.