AbbVie and ADARx announce collaboration and license option agreement

AbbVie (ABBV) and ADARx Pharmaceuticals, a late clinical-stage biotechnology company developing next-generation RNA therapeutics, announced a collaboration and license option agreement to develop small interfering RNA, or siRNA, therapeutics across multiple disease areas, including neuroscience, immunology and oncology. siRNA represents a class of molecules capable of regulating gene expression and protein production. Unlike traditional modalities such as antibodies and small molecules, siRNA regulates the expression of genes. These molecules are designed to prevent the production of disease-causing proteins by targeting the messenger RNA that encodes for such proteins. The strategic collaboration will leverage ADARx’s RNA discovery expertise and proprietary siRNA technology, which has the potential to enable sustained and precise mRNA silencing. AbbVie will contribute its expertise in antibody engineering, antibody drug conjugates and tissue delivery approaches as appropriate, to augment ADARx’s discovery efforts. Under the terms of the agreement, ADARx will receive a $335M upfront payment and will be eligible to receive several billion dollars in additional contingent payments including option-related fees and milestone payments, as well as tiered royalties.