AbbVie and Parvus Therapeutics have entered into an exclusive global license collaboration to develop and commercialise novel therapies to treat inflammatory bowel disease (IBD).
As part of the deal, AbbVie will combine its expertise in immunology with Parvus’ regulatory T cell (Treg) immune tolerisation platform technology, Navacim.
IBD is used to describe two conditions: Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis, which are both characterised by chronic inflammation of the gastrointestinal tract.
According to the European Federation of Crohn’s and Ulcerative Colitis Associations, around ten million people worldwide are living with the autoimmune disease, where the immune system mistakenly attacks the body.
Under the terms of the agreement, AbbVie will receive an exclusive global option to develop and commercialise Parvus’s Navacim therapies resulting from the collaboration for IBD, while Parvus will receive an upfront payment and a potential equity investment.
The preclinical-stage company will also be eligible to receive downstream development and commercial milestone payments, plus royalties on net sales of products.
Navacim provides multivalent peptide major histocompatibility complexes to T cells to trigger endogenous expansion and the differentiation of the T cells into antigen-specific Tregs, potentially halting or curing autoimmune disease by restoring organ-specific immune tolerance without comprising normal immunity.
Peter Strumph, chief executive officer, Parvus, commented: “We are excited to collaborate with AbbVie… to advance our shared mission of transforming patient care through scientific innovation.
“This agreement represents a significant validation of our Navacim technology as a Treg immune tolerisation platform capable of generating novel development candidates for autoimmune disease.”
Earlier this month, AbbVie entered into a strategic partnership worth over $713m with OSE Immunotherapeutics to develop a novel monoclonal antibody, OSE-230, to resolve chronic and severe inflammation for patients living with inflammatory disease.
Prior to this, AbbVie announced a multi-year collaboration worth over $64m with Tentarix Biotherapeutics in February to discover and develop conditionally-active, multi-specific biologics against one target in each brand of medicine within oncology and immunology.
Additionally, the company previously shared the results of its late-stage study, SEQUENCE, in October 2023, which showed that its IL-23 inhibitor Skyrizi (risankizumab) was superior to Johnson & Johnson’s Stelara (ustekinumab) in Crohn’s disease.