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AbbVie announced on Monday that it would buy Aliada Therapeutics for $1.4 billion in cash, a bet on an experimental Alzheimer's treatment that is in early development. The acquisition pitted AbbVie, which has a market capitalization of as much as $330 billion, against at least three other pharmaceutical companies interested in Aliada, according to insiders. Shares of AbbVie were up 1% at Monday's close. Competition for Aliada's privately held Alzheimer's drug candidate has driven up the deal price, according to people familiar with the matter, showing that despite the historical regulatory risks associated with drugs for the mentally wasting disease, there are still many pharmaceutical companies willing to invest early in such treatments. Two similar therapies that reduce toxic amyloid plaques in the brain were recently approved in the U.S. after decades of failure. AbbVie is aggressively expanding its portfolio of neuroscience products as sales of its top-selling arthritis drug Humira fell 33%. Humira was once the world's best-selling drug, but now faces competition from several cheaper biosimilars. To further strengthen its pipeline, AbbVie has already acquired neuroscience drug developer Cerevel Therapeutics and cancer drug developer ImmunoGen earlier this year in deals totaling about $19 billion. At least 11 monkeys have died at Hong Kong Zoo in the past week. Abbvie said Aliada's antibody therapy, ALIA-1758, could be the best of its kind. ALIA-1758 uses a protein in the blood called transferrin to carry iron to transport an antibody that degrades and eliminates amyloid plaques - sticky protein deposits in the brain that are a sign of Alzheimer's disease. "Many promising CNS targeted therapies fail to enter late-stage trials because they cannot cross the blood-brain barrier," said Michael Ryan, Aliada's medical director. "Our [drug delivery] platform directly addresses this challenge, effectively delivering targeted drugs and potentially transforming the way we treat neurological diseases," he added. With the approval of Biogen (BIIB.O) and Eisai (4523.T) (Leqembi) and Lilly (Lill.N) (Kisunla), amyloid plaques are confirmed as a therapeutic target, BMO analyst Evan Seigerman said. But Alzheimer's disease remains a high-risk indication. The number of people with Alzheimer's disease is expected to double from 6.9 million in 2020 to nearly 14 million by 2060, according to the CDC. Abbvie expects to close the deal by the end of this year. Abbvie's neuroscience therapies, which include botox and bipolar disorder drug Vraylar, brought in $4.13 billion in sales in the first half of 2024, up 15.3% year over year.

NORTH CHICAGO, IL and BOSTON, MA, USA I October 28, 2024 I AbbVie (NYSE: ABBV ) and Aliada Therapeutics today announced a definitive agreement under which AbbVie will acquire Aliada, a biotechnology company advancing therapies using a novel blood-brain barrier (BBB)-crossing technology to address challenging central nervous system (CNS) diseases. Aliada’s lead investigational asset utilizing this delivery technology, ALIA-1758, is an anti-pyroglutamate amyloid beta (3pE-Aβ) antibody in development for the treatment of Alzheimer’s disease. “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,” said Roopal Thakkar, M.D., executive vice president, research and development and chief scientific officer, AbbVie. “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.” “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,” said Michael Ryan, M.D., chief medical officer at Aliada Therapeutics. “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.” Aliada is advancing therapeutic candidates using its Modular Delivery (MODEL™) platform, engineered for high-precision CNS drug delivery. The novel BBB-crossing technology targets transferrin and CD98 receptors (TfR and CD98) which are highly expressed in brain endothelial cells. By engineering highly optimized TfR or CD98 binders, this platform is designed to deliver different types of biological cargoes into the brain, including therapeutic antibodies and genetic medicines such as siRNA. ALIA-1758 utilizes TfR to transport a 3pE-Aβ antibody across the BBB to enable degradation and elimination of amyloid beta plaques, a pathological hallmark of Alzheimer’s disease. This investigational candidate is currently in a Phase 1 clinical trial to assess its safety and tolerability in healthy participants (NCT06406348). Under the terms of the agreement, AbbVie will acquire all outstanding Aliada equity for $1.4 billion in cash, subject to certain customary adjustments. This transaction is expected to close in 4Q2024, subject to regulatory approvals and other customary closing conditions. Advisors AbbVie’s legal advisor was Covington & Burling LLP. Aliada’s exclusive financial advisor was Centerview Partners LLC and Fenwick & West LLP served as legal advisor. About AbbVie AbbVie’s mission is to discover and deliver innovative medicines and solutions that solve serious health issues today and address the medical challenges of tomorrow. We strive to have a remarkable impact on people’s lives across several key therapeutic areas – immunology, oncology, neuroscience, and eye care – and products and services in our Allergan Aesthetics portfolio. For more information about AbbVie, please visit us at www.abbvie.com . Follow @abbvie on LinkedIn, Facebook , Instagram , X (formerly Twitter) , and YouTube. About Aliada Therapeutics Aliada Therapeutics is a biotechnology company focused on addressing delivery challenges in CNS drug development. Aliada is developing next-generation CNS therapeutics with its novel BBB-crossing Modular Delivery (MODEL™) platform technology, which has been shown to efficiently transport diverse therapeutic cargoes into the brain, enhancing effectiveness and addressing the critical need for efficient and versatile large molecule and oligonucleotide delivery. Johnson & Johnson (through its venture capital arm, Johnson & Johnson Innovation – JJDC, Inc.), RA Capital Management, and Raven (RA Capital Management’s incubator) co-founded Aliada and co-led the series seed financing in 2021 to advance the MODEL™ platform created by Johnson & Johnson scientists that was licensed to Aliada at its inception. Further investment was made by OrbiMed and Sanofi Ventures. For more information visit www.aliadatx.com and follow us on LinkedIn and X . SOURCE: AbbVie

Alzheimer’s disease medicines commercialized in the past two years validated amyloid beta as a drug target, but these antibody therapies still have a hard time penetrating the membrane that covers blood vessels supplying the brain. AbbVie aims to best those drugs through its acquisition of Aliada Therapeutics, a clinical-stage biotech whose technology enables large molecules such as antibodies to cross this protective barrier. AbbVie announced Monday it is paying $1.4 billion in cash to acquire Aliada, a biotech that just entered the clinic earlier this year. Boston-based Aliada gets drugs across the blood-brain barrier (BBB) by leveraging receptors that transport substances into the brain. Lead Aliada program ALIA-1758 is an antibody engineered with binders for transferrin, which transports iron into the brain, and CD98, which transports certain amino acids. The drug comes from a platform technology called Modular Delivery, or MODEL. presented by Health IT Accelerating Claim Processing: Strategies to Shorten the Life of a Claim These strategies and practices can significantly shorten the life cycle of claims, leading to quicker resolutions and improved financial outcomes. By Greenway Health “We’re essentially taking advantage of normal physiological brain transport processes, and if you like, we’re hijacking those by attaching therapeutic cargos to our delivery modules to allow brain delivery,” Aliada Chief Scientific Officer John Dunlop explained in an interview during the BIO Conference in June. Aliada licensed MODEL from Johnson & Johnson subsidiary Janssen, which had used the technology to develop ALIA-1758. Aliada co-founder Danielle Feldman, who is senior director of corporate development for the company, was with RA Capital Management when her search for new technologies led her to Johnson & Johnson Innovation—JJDC, Dunlop said. Those discussions led both parties to conclude that the best way for the MODEL technology to realize its value was as a standalone company undistracted by the goings-on of a big pharmaceutical company. Aliada was formed at the end of 2021, with seed financing from RA Capital and J&J. OrbiMed and Sanofi Ventures later joined an extension of the financing. Dunlop declined to disclose how much was invested, but securities filings show the company raised $1 million in 2021, followed by nearly $32 million in late 2022. Dunlop did say Aliada had enough capital to support the lead program through Phase 1b proof-of-concept testing in Alzheimer’s. Clinical trial records show a Phase 1 trial began in May with a targeted enrollment of 52 healthy adults. According to Dunlop, ALIA-1758’s affinity for its target receptors means that more drug can get into the brain per dose, which should translate to needing a lower dosage level to achieve the desired therapeutic effect. A lower dose could reduce the adverse effects associated with amyloid-reducing drugs. Eisai’s Leqembi, which won full FDA approval last year, and Eli Lilly’s Kisunla, approved in July, carry warnings on their labels for risks of bleeding and swelling complications. presented by Sponsored Post The Promise of Value-Based Care and MedTech Innovation Monica Vajani, Executive Director for mHUB’s MedTech Accelerator, discusses how mHUB is helping innovators transition healthcare towards value-based care. By Monica Vajani - mHUB AbbVie has been spreading its bets in Alzheimer’s drug R&D. The company earlier this year reportedly discontinued development of ABBV-916 as a monotherapy, but is still leaving the door open for applications of the antibody as part of combination treatments. An Alzheimer’s partnership with Alector began in 2017. Two years ago, AbbVie terminated one program that had reached Phase 1 testing, opting to focus the alliance’s efforts on a second Alector program, AL002. This drug is an antibody designed to modulate the TREM2 receptor as a way of enhancing the activity of microglia, immune cells found in the central nervous system (CNS). Alector is responsible for Phase 1 and 2 testing, after which AbbVie has the option to license the drug. AbbVie’s pipeline currently shows AL002 is still in Phase 2 testing. In 2022, AbbVie paid $130 million up front to acquire Syndesi Therapeutics, developer of small molecule drugs that modulate synaptic transmission. Syndesi’s most advanced program, renamed ABBV-552, targets synaptic vesicle protein 2A (SV2A). AbbVie’s pipeline currently shows this program is in Phase 2 testing. AbbVie said it expect to close the Aliada acquisition by the end of this year. In the company’s announcement of the deal, Roopal Thakkar, executive vice president, research and development and chief scientific officer, AbbVie, said neuroscience is one of the company’s key growth areas. “This acquisition immediately positions us to advance ALIA-1758, a potentially best-in-class disease-modifying therapy for Alzheimer’s disease,” he said. “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.”