For $1.4 billion in cash, AbbVie (ABBV, Financial) has confirmed to buy Aliada Therapeutics, a biotech specializing in neurosciences. Once projected to close in the Q4 of 2024 depending on regulatory approval, AbbVie will acquire complete ownership of Aliada's creative blood-brain barrier (BBB).
An anti-pyroglutamate amyloid beta (3pE-Aβ) antibody meant to treat Alzheimer's disease, Aliada's flagship therapeutic candidate is ALIA-1758. The candidate is positioned as a perhaps best-in-class disease-modifying treatment; Aliada also investigates alternative programs for various neurological disorders.
"This acquisition immediately positions us to advance ALIA-1758, a perhaps best-in-class disease-modifying therapy for Alzheimer's disease," said Roopal Thakkar, M.D., executive vice president, research and development and chief scientific officer at AbbVie. "Moreover, Aliada's BBB-crossing technology improves our R&D capacity to hasten the introduction of next-generation treatments for neurological diseases and other diseases where improved therapy delivery into the central nervous system is advantageous."
As it aims to increase its neuroscience pipeline, the acquisition lets AbbVie use Aliada's platform to accelerate its research in neurological diseases and improve medicine delivery into the central nervous system (CNS), a sector of strategic importance for the firm.
