AbbVie and ADARx Pharmaceuticals have entered into a collaboration and license option agreement to develop small interfering RNA (siRNA) therapeutics. This partnership aims to address multiple disease areas, including neuroscience, immunology, and oncology.
The collaboration will utilize ADARx's RNA discovery expertise and proprietary siRNA technology. AbbVie will contribute its knowledge in antibody engineering, antibody drug conjugates (ADCs), and tissue delivery methods to support ADARx's efforts.
Jonathon Sedgwick, Ph.D., senior vice president and global head of discovery research at AbbVie, stated: "siRNA is a promising genetic medicine approach for silencing disease-causing genes, but challenges still remain in targeting and delivering siRNA effectively." He expressed satisfaction with the collaboration with ADARx to advance siRNA as a potential novel therapeutic modality.
Zhen Li, Ph.D., co-founder, president, and CEO of ADARx Pharmaceuticals commented: "This collaboration with AbbVie further validates the differentiated RNA technology that we have developed at ADARx." Li emphasized that AbbVie's research capabilities combined with its commercial reach make them an ideal partner.
According to the agreement terms, ADARx will receive an upfront payment of $335 million. They are also eligible for additional contingent payments amounting to several billion dollars through option-related fees and milestone payments.
AbbVie focuses on discovering innovative medicines across key therapeutic areas such as immunology, oncology, neuroscience, eye care, and aesthetics. Meanwhile, ADARx Pharmaceuticals specializes in developing next-generation RNA medicines for various diseases.
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