AbbVie has signed a definitive agreement to acquire CNS disease biotech, Aliada Therapeutics.
This will further expand AbbVie's pipeline for neurological diseases, which has been a main area of focus for the company in recent years.
Aliada is currently utilising its blood-brain barrier (BBB)-crossing technology — MODEL — to develop therapeutics that can treat a range of CNS diseases, including Alzheimer's.
The biotech's lead investigational asset, ALIA-1758, was developed using MODEL, and is currently being developed as a disease-modifying therapy for Alzheimer's disease.
ALIA-1758 is an anti-pyroglutamate amyloid beta anitbody, and is currently in Phase I clinical trials.
Under the terms of the agreement, AbbVie will acquire all of Aliada's outstanding equity for USD $1.4bn; the transaction will likely close at the end of 2024.
AbbVie's Executive VP and CSO, Roopal, Thakkar, commented: "Neuroscience is one of our key growth areas and we are committed to driving innovation in this field to address critical unmet needs for patients living with seriously debilitating neurological diseases such as Alzheimer's disease,"
"This acquisition immediately positions us to advance ALIA-1758, a potentially best-in-class disease-modifying therapy for Alzheimer's disease. In addition, Aliada's novel BBB-crossing technology strengthens our R&D capabilities to accelerate the development of next-generation therapies for neurological disorders and other diseases where enhanced delivery of therapeutics into the CNS is beneficial."
Chief Medical Officer of Aliada Therapeutics, Michael Ryan, added: "We are pleased to announce the acquisition of Aliada by AbbVie and are excited about AbbVie's commitment to bringing ALIA-1758 to patients with Alzheimer's disease. Our proprietary MODEL™ platform has enabled the development of ALIA-1758, a promising step forward in brain delivery of an anti-amyloid antibody therapy,"
"Many promising CNS-targeted therapies fail to reach late-stage trials due to their inability to cross the blood-brain barrier. Our MODEL™ platform addresses this challenge directly, efficiently delivering targeted drugs and potentially transforming how we treat neurological diseases."