AbbVie is paying ADARx Pharmaceuticals $335 million upfront to secure options on next-gen small interfering RNA (siRNA) therapeutics across several disease areas.
The collaboration and license option agreement covers neuroscience, immunology and oncology and gives ADARx the chance to make “several billion dollars” in additional option-related fees and milestone payments, plus royalties, according to a May 14 release.
ADARx brings to the table its siRNA tech and RNA discovery expertise, while AbbVie’s work in antibody engineering, antibody-drug conjugates and tissue delivery approaches will complement ADARx’s discovery efforts, the companies said.
The deal is designed to accelerate siRNA as a potential new therapeutic modality alongside AbbVie's other established approaches, Jonathon Sedgwick, Ph.D., senior vice president and global head of discovery research, said in the release. Sedgwick said siRNA is a “promising genetic medicine approach for silencing disease-causing genes,” though he noted obstacles still remain in "targeting and delivering siRNA effectively.”
SiRNA aims to prevent the production of disease-causing proteins by targeting the protein’s respective messenger RNA. According to ADARx, its therapies can offer long-lasting effects without genome alterations and the associated long-term safety concerns.
ADARx pegged AbbVie as the “ideal strategic partner” based on its R&D digs and global commercial reach, according to CEO and co-founder Zhen Li, Ph.D. Together, the two companies can unlock “tremendous clinical and commercial potential across multiple disease areas,” Li said.
Outside of its newfound collaborator, ADARx has a pipeline full of wholly owned clinical and preclinical siRNA-based candidates that target the liver, central nervous system and body fat, and span potential indications such as geographic atrophy, paroxysmal nocturnal hemoglobinuria, obesity and neurodegeneration, to name a few. Furthest along is the company’s ADX-324, which is set for a phase 3 trial in hereditary angioedema, a rare genetic disorder that causes swelling episodes.
The San Diego-based biotech pulled in $200 million in a series C financing back in 2023, with Blackrock, T. Rowe Price Associates and Venrock joining previous investors. Later that year, Li told Fierce Biotech that the company was “considering” an early target validation collaboration with an unnamed pharma.