Isis Pharmaceuticals has partnered with Roche to advance the development of therapeutics for Huntington’s disease (HD) based on its antisense oligonucleotide (ASO) technology. The collaboration will initially focus on Isis’ lead HD drug candidate, which blocks production of all forms of the huntingtin (HTT) protein, the protein responsible for HD. In parallel, the two companies will also collaborate to combine Isis’ ASOs with Roche’s ‘brain shuttle’ technology. Roche has the option to license the collaboration drugs through completion of the first Phase I trial.