AbbVie gains rights to FutureGen’s inflammatory bowel disease candidate in deal worth $1.7bn
AbbVie and FutureGen Biopharmaceutical have announced a licence agreement worth $1.7bn to develop a pre-clinical therapy for inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). The deal gives AbbVie an exclusive global licence to develop, manufacture and commercialise the candidate, FG-M701.
In exchange, FutureGen will receive $150m in upfront and near-term milestone payments and will be eligible to receive up to $1.56bn in clinical development, regulatory and commercial milestones, as well as tiered royalties.
An estimated 3.1 million adults in the US have been diagnosed with IBD, a term for conditions characterised by chronic inflammation of the gastrointestinal tract, including Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis. The exact cause of IBD is unknown and symptoms include persistent diarrhoea, abdominal pain, rectal bleeding, weight loss and fatigue.
FutureGen’s FG-M701 is a fully human monoclonal antibody targeting TL1A, a clinically validated target in IBD, that is hoped to offer greater efficacy and less frequent dosing for patients.
The deal comes less than two months after AbbVie and Parvus Therapeutics entered into an exclusive global licence collaboration and option agreement to develop and commercialise novel therapies for IBD.
The alliance combines AbbVie’s capabilities in immunology with Parvus’ innovative Navacim regulatory T cell immune tolerisation platform technology.
AbbVie also recently announced a strategic partnership worth over $700m with OSE Immunotherapeutics to develop a novel monoclonal antibody designed to resolve chronic and severe inflammation.
June 17, 2024
