Biopharmaceutical company Madrigal Pharmaceuticals, Inc. has signed an exclusive global licensing agreement with Suzhou Ribo Life Science Co. Ltd. and its subsidiary Ribocure Pharmaceuticals AB to develop six preclinical small interfering RNA (siRNA) programs aimed at treating metabolic dysfunction-associated steatohepatitis (MASH).
The deal marks a strategic expansion of Madrigal’s pipeline beyond its approved therapy Rezdiffra and underscores growing industry interest in genetically targeted treatments for liver disease. siRNA therapies silence disease-causing genes by preventing production of harmful proteins, potentially addressing underlying biological drivers rather than only symptoms.
Under the agreement, Madrigal gains global rights to develop, manufacture and commercialize the six compounds. Ribo will receive an upfront payment of $60 million and could earn up to $4.4 billion in milestone payments, along with royalties on net sales if the therapies reach the market.
Chief Executive Officer Bill Sibold said the company sees combination therapies as the future of MASH treatment. He noted that Madrigal began 2025 as a single-product company but now has a broad research pipeline, including ongoing outcomes studies and multiple investigational programs targeting different disease pathways.
Chief Medical Officer David Soergel added that siRNA molecules are naturally suited to liver diseases because they can be directed into hepatocytes using GalNAc delivery technology. By breaking down targeted mRNA, the therapy may suppress genes linked to inflammation, fibrosis and fat accumulation in the liver.
The company plans to begin investigational new drug-enabling activities for initial siRNA candidates in 2026. Madrigal also intends to study whether gene-silencing therapies can be paired with Rezdiffra to enhance treatment response in patients with advanced disease.
Beyond the newly licensed programs, the firm’s pipeline includes MGL-2086, an oral GLP-1 receptor agonist entering first-in-human studies in 2026, and ervogastat, a Phase 2 DGAT-2 inhibitor that may be tested in combination with its existing therapy.
Industry observers view the collaboration as part of a broader shift toward precision medicine in metabolic liver disease. As MASH prevalence rises globally and few effective therapies exist, companies are increasingly exploring multi-mechanism approaches that combine metabolic regulation with direct genetic intervention.
If successful, the partnership could position Madrigal at the forefront of next-generation MASH treatments — moving the field toward personalized, genetically informed care rather than single-mechanism therapies.