Alpine Immune amends acazicolcept option and license agreement with AbbVie

Alpine Immune Sciences (ALPN) announced last night that the company has amended the previously announced 2020 option and license agreement with AbbVie (ABBV) for acazicolcept. Under the amended agreement: Company will stop enrollment under the amended agreement in the phase 2 study of acazicolcept in systemic lupus erythematosus within 30 days. Currently enrolled patients will be allowed to complete the study. Patients who are currently in the screening process and meet eligibility requirements will be allowed to enter and complete the study. Final analysis will be conducted after the last patient completes the study protocol which is expected to occur by the end of 2024. AbbVie retains an exclusive option to obtain an exclusive worldwide license to acazicolcept which is exercisable by AbbVie at any time and will expire 90 days from delivery of an agreed upon data package by the Company to AbbVie. The previously disclosed option exercise fee of $75M has been reduced to $10M and the remaining pre-option development milestone has been removed. Potential future development, commercial, and sales-based milestones and sales-based royalties have been reduced by 25% from the originally agreed upon amounts. Company has received $105M in non-refundable upfront and milestone payments to-date as part of the option and license agreement. “AbbVie has been a tremendous partner, and we appreciate their flexibility in amending our agreement for the development of acazicolcept. While enrollment in the Synergy study will be stopped early, we still anticipate that sufficient clinical and pharmacodynamic data will be available to enable a thorough evaluation of the study. We plan to focus our development resources to advance povetacicept into a broad development plan,” said Mitchell Gold, MD, Executive Chairman and Chief Executive Officer.