AbbVie has announced that it will be expanding its inflammatory and autoimmune disease portfolio by acquiring Landos Biopharma for up to $212.5m.
Landos is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company that focuses on the development of oral therapeutics for patients with autoimmune diseases.
Inflammatory conditions such as inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) cause excess inflammation, while the body’s natural defence system mistakenly attacks normal cells as opposed to foreign cells in autoimmune diseases.
In some conditions, including rheumatoid arthritis and lupus, both autoimmune and inflammatory diseases play a role when antibodies get directed against the body’s own cells, causing inflammation.
Under the terms of the agreement, AbbVie will acquire Landos for approximately $137.5m, plus an additional $75m, subject to its achievement of a clinical development milestone.
Meanwhile, AbbVie will gain rights to advance the clinical development of Landos’ lead investigational asset, NX-13, as a potential treatment for patients living with ulcerative colitis (UC) and Crohn’s disease, two forms of IBD.
Roopal Thakkar, senior vice president and chief medical officer, global therapeutics, AbbVie, commented: “With this acquisition, we aim to advance the clinical development of NX-13… with the potential to make a difference in the lives of people living with UC and Crohn’s disease.”
NX-13 is a first-in-class oral NLRX1 agonist with a bimodal mechanism of action that is anti-inflammatory and works to facilitate epithelial repair by regulating immunometabolism and inflammation.
The phase 2 randomised study, NEXUS, which aims to evaluate the clinical efficacy, safety and pharmacokinetics of oral NX-13 versus placebo in UC, is currently enrolling eligible patients in the UK and Europe.
Gregory Oakes, president and chief executive officer, Landos, said: “NX-13 and its bimodal mechanism of action have the potential to provide a novel approach to the treatment of UC and Crohn’s disease. With AbbVie’s therapeutic area leadership and expertise in global development, [it is] the right company to further advance NX-13.”
Most recently, AbbVie entered into an exclusive global license collaboration with Parvus Therapeutics to develop and commercialise novel therapies to treat IBD, combining its expertise in immunology with Parvus’ regulatory T cell immune tolerisation platform technology, Navacim.