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    Eplontersen

    High Evidence

    An approved, once-monthly, self-administered subcutaneous GalNAc-conjugated antisense oligonucleotide (ASO) from Ionis and AstraZeneca that treats transthyretin-mediated (ATTR) amyloidosis by lowering the liver's production of transthyretin (TTR). Transthyretin is a liver-made transport protein that can misfold and deposit as amyloid in nerves and the heart; eplontersen is a short synthetic strand of chemically modified DNA/RNA that binds TTR messenger RNA and directs its enzymatic (RNase H1) degradation before the protein is made, cutting circulating TTR by roughly 80%. A triantennary N-acetylgalactosamine (GalNAc) tag delivers it to liver cells, allowing a low-dose 45 mg injection just once a month via autoinjector or pre-filled syringe. Marketed as Wainua (US) and Wainzua (EU), it was FDA-approved in December 2023 for the polyneuropathy of hereditary ATTR amyloidosis (ATTRv-PN) on the strength of the NEURO-TTRansform trial, and is now approved in more than 20 countries. Eplontersen is the antisense (ASO) counterpart to the siRNA drug vutrisiran (Amvuttra): both silence TTR, and both were tested in ATTR cardiomyopathy - but where vutrisiran's HELIOS-B trial succeeded on top of a stabilizer background, eplontersen's much larger CARDIO-TTRansform cardiomyopathy trial missed its primary endpoint in July 2026, with a benefit seen only in the prespecified monotherapy subgroup. It is a GalNAc-ASO sibling of Ionis's olezarsen and pelacarsen and the second-generation successor to the earlier, non-GalNAc TTR antisense drug inotersen (Tegsedi).

    AliasesWainua+6 more
    EvidenceHigh Evidence
    Last Updated 2026-08-23
    Reading Time 7 min

    What It Is

    Eplontersen (brand names Wainua in the US and Wainzua in the EU; development codes AKCEA-TTR-LRx and ION-682884) is an approved ligand-conjugated antisense oligonucleotide (ASO) that lowers the body's production of transthyretin (TTR). TTR is a protein made mostly by the liver that normally ferries thyroid hormone and vitamin A through the blood; in transthyretin amyloidosis (ATTR), TTR molecules - whether from an inherited mutation (hereditary ATTR, hATTR) or from ageing of the normal protein (wild-type ATTR, wtATTR) - become unstable, misfold, and accumulate as insoluble amyloid fibrils in peripheral nerves (causing polyneuropathy) and in the heart muscle (causing a stiff, failing heart known as ATTR cardiomyopathy, or ATTR-CM). Unlike a small interfering RNA (siRNA), which works through the RNA interference pathway, an antisense oligonucleotide is a short single strand of chemically modified nucleic acid that base-pairs with the TTR messenger RNA and recruits the enzyme RNase H1 to cleave and degrade it - stopping the TTR protein from being made in the first place. Eplontersen is conjugated to triantennary N-acetylgalactosamine (GalNAc), a sugar cluster recognized by the asialoglycoprotein receptor found almost exclusively on liver cells; that tag concentrates the drug in hepatocytes, where TTR is produced, and enables a low-dose, once-monthly 45 mg subcutaneous injection that patients can give themselves with an autoinjector (or that a healthcare professional can give as a pre-filled syringe). By suppressing TTR at its source, eplontersen reduces the supply of the misfolding protein that forms amyloid, lowering serum TTR by roughly 80% (about 81% in the polyneuropathy trial). It was discovered by Ionis Pharmaceuticals and is jointly developed and commercialized in the US with AstraZeneca, which holds rest-of-world rights. The U.S. FDA approved Wainua in December 2023 for the polyneuropathy of hereditary ATTR amyloidosis in adults, and it has since been approved in more than 20 countries, including the European Union (as Wainzua). It is an approved prescription medicine - not a supplement or research chemical. Its most consequential test in the far more common cardiomyopathy form of the disease, the Phase 3 CARDIO-TTRansform trial, read out in July 2026 and did not meet its primary cardiovascular-outcome endpoint, a notable contrast with the siRNA TTR silencer vutrisiran.

    Also known as: Wainua, Wainzua, AKCEA-TTR-LRx, ION-682884, IONIS-TTR-LRx, eplontersen sodium, TTR antisense oligonucleotide (Ionis)

    Regulatory Status

    Approved prescription medicine

    FDA-approved as Wainua (eplontersen) on December 21, 2023 for the polyneuropathy of hereditary transthyretin-mediated amyloidosis (hATTR-PN / ATTRv-PN) in adults; approved in more than 20 countries, including the European Union as Wainzua (European Commission approval in 2025 following a 2024 CHMP positive opinion). It is a once-monthly 45 mg subcutaneous injection that can be self-administered by autoinjector or given by a healthcare professional as a pre-filled syringe - not a dietary supplement or research chemical. It is NOT approved for ATTR cardiomyopathy: the Phase 3 CARDIO-TTRansform cardiomyopathy trial missed its primary endpoint in July 2026, so eplontersen's use in ATTR-CM remains investigational and unapproved.

    Why Researchers Study It

    Eplontersen matters as the antisense (ASO) half of the two-technology effort to silence transthyretin, the counterpart to the siRNA drug vutrisiran (Amvuttra). Clinically it is a convenient, once-a-month, self-injected treatment that attacks hereditary ATTR polyneuropathy at its root - the misfolding TTR protein - rather than its symptoms, and it validated GalNAc-conjugated antisense chemistry as a way to turn Ionis's earlier weekly, non-GalNAc TTR drug inotersen into a low-dose monthly shot with a cleaner safety profile. Scientifically, its 2026 CARDIO-TTRansform cardiomyopathy readout became one of the most instructive results in the TTR field: unlike vutrisiran's HELIOS-B, which showed a cardiovascular-outcome benefit on top of a stabilizer background, eplontersen missed its primary endpoint in a larger, more contemporary population in which most patients were already taking a TTR stabilizer such as tafamidis - with a benefit visible only in the monotherapy subgroup. That contrast has become central to how cardiologists think about whether adding a TTR silencer helps once a patient is already stabilized, how to design ATTR-CM trials in the tafamidis/acoramidis era, and whether antisense and siRNA silencers behave the same way in the heart. Eplontersen is also a flagship of Ionis's GalNAc-ASO platform, alongside the triglyceride drug olezarsen and the lipoprotein(a) drug pelacarsen.

    Proposed Mechanisms

    • GalNAc-conjugated antisense oligonucleotide (ASO): a short, chemically modified single strand of nucleic acid that base-pairs with the messenger RNA for transthyretin (TTR) and recruits the enzyme RNase H1 to cleave and degrade it, lowering production of both mutant and wild-type TTR
    • Reducing circulating TTR by roughly 80% cuts the supply of the misfolding protein that forms amyloid fibrils, slowing new amyloid deposition in peripheral nerves and heart muscle
    • Triantennary N-acetylgalactosamine (GalNAc) conjugation targets the asialoglycoprotein receptor on liver cells, concentrating the ASO in the liver and enabling a low-dose, once-monthly subcutaneous injection
    • Works upstream of TTR stabilizers such as tafamidis and acoramidis - which hold the TTR tetramer together to slow misfolding - by instead reducing how much TTR the liver makes; the CARDIO-TTRansform result suggests this added silencing may add little once a patient is already stabilized
    • Differs mechanistically from siRNA silencers (patisiran, vutrisiran, inclisiran), which use the RNA interference pathway and the RISC complex, whereas antisense oligonucleotides act through RNase H1-mediated cleavage

    Evidence Snapshot

    High Evidence
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    Medium
    High
    Study Type Model Outcome Link
    Phase 3 cardiomyopathy (CARDIO-TTRansform, topline July 2026; ESC Congress 2026) 1,432 adults with wild-type or hereditary ATTR cardiomyopathy across 130 sites in 20 countries, on available standard of care (57% on a TTR stabilizer at baseline, 24% starting one during the trial); randomized 1:1 to eplontersen 45 mg or placebo subcutaneously every 4 weeks; primary composite of cardiovascular mortality and recurrent cardiovascular events through Week 140 Did NOT meet the primary endpoint: adding eplontersen gave no statistically significant benefit on the composite in the overall, stabilizer-heavy population. A prespecified monotherapy subgroup (no background stabilizer) showed fewer primary events, nominally significant (reported hazard ratio ~0.71); patients on a stabilizer at baseline showed no treatment effect. Secondary, imaging and biomarker measures numerically favored eplontersen, TTR reductions were large and sustained, and the drug was well tolerated Source
    Phase 3 polyneuropathy (NEURO-TTRansform, JAMA 2023) 168 adults with the polyneuropathy of hereditary ATTR amyloidosis given eplontersen 45 mg subcutaneously every 4 weeks, compared with the historical placebo group from the earlier inotersen NEURO-TTR trial, over 65-85 weeks At week 65-66 eplontersen significantly improved neuropathy impairment (mNIS+7) and quality of life (Norfolk QoL-DN) versus placebo and reduced serum TTR by about 81% at week 35 - supporting the December 2023 FDA approval for hATTR polyneuropathy Source
    Counterpart siRNA trial for contrast (HELIOS-B, NEJM 2024) 655 adults with ATTR-CM given the siRNA TTR silencer vutrisiran 25 mg or placebo subcutaneously every 3 months, most on background tafamidis Vutrisiran REDUCED the composite of all-cause mortality and recurrent cardiovascular events (HR 0.72) even on top of a stabilizer, the opposite pattern to eplontersen's CARDIO-TTRansform result - a contrast now central to debate over whether antisense and siRNA TTR silencers behave identically in the heart and whether added silencing helps once patients are stabilized Source
    Platform precedent (inotersen / Tegsedi, NEURO-TTR, NEJM 2018) Ionis's earlier, first-generation (non-GalNAc) TTR antisense oligonucleotide in adults with hATTR polyneuropathy, injected weekly with monitoring for low platelets and kidney effects Inotersen improved neuropathy and quality of life and established antisense TTR-lowering as disease-modifying; eplontersen is the GalNAc-conjugated, once-monthly, better-tolerated successor whose historical placebo arm anchored the NEURO-TTRansform trial Source

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    Safety & Cautions

    • Eplontersen (Wainua / Wainzua) is a prescription medicine; it is not a supplement or research chemical, and any product sold as 'eplontersen' or 'Wainua' outside a pharmacy or clinical setting is unverified and unsafe
    • It is approved for the POLYNEUROPATHY of hereditary ATTR amyloidosis, NOT for ATTR cardiomyopathy - the Phase 3 CARDIO-TTRansform cardiomyopathy trial missed its primary endpoint in July 2026, so cardiac use remains investigational
    • Because it lowers transthyretin - which normally carries vitamin A - eplontersen reduces serum vitamin A, and supplementation at the recommended daily allowance is advised; patients should report eye or vision symptoms
    • The label carries guidance to monitor for reduced vitamin A and for possible effects on the kidneys; injection-site reactions can occur (though the GalNAc design markedly reduced the platelet and kidney risks seen with the earlier non-GalNAc drug inotersen)
    • It treats ATTR amyloidosis; it is not a treatment for AL (light-chain) amyloidosis, and correct diagnosis of the amyloid type is essential before use
    • Treatment decisions - including how to weigh a TTR silencer against or alongside TTR stabilizers such as tafamidis or acoramidis, especially in the heart where CARDIO-TTRansform found no added benefit on a stabilizer background - should be individualized by a specialist; use in pregnancy and breastfeeding has not been established

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    Citations

    1. [1] Update on CARDIO-TTRansform Phase III trial for Wainua (eplontersen) in adults with transthyretin-mediated amyloid cardiomyopathy - AstraZeneca (July 9, 2026) PubMed
    2. [2] Update on CARDIO-TTRansform Phase 3 trial of eplontersen - Ionis Pharmaceuticals (July 8, 2026) PubMed
    3. [3] Coelho T, Marques W Jr, Dasgupta NR, et al. - Eplontersen for Hereditary Transthyretin Amyloidosis With Polyneuropathy (NEURO-TTRansform), JAMA (2023) PubMed
    4. [4] Wainua (eplontersen) granted first-ever regulatory approval in the US for polyneuropathy of hereditary transthyretin-mediated amyloidosis - AstraZeneca (December 2023) PubMed
    5. [5] CARDIO-TTRansform: A Study to Evaluate the Efficacy and Safety of Eplontersen in Participants With ATTR-CM - ClinicalTrials.gov, NCT04136171 PubMed
    6. [6] NEURO-TTRansform: A Study of Eplontersen in Participants With Hereditary Transthyretin-Mediated Amyloid Polyneuropathy - ClinicalTrials.gov, NCT04136184 PubMed

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