Sosei Heptares and Abbvie Partner in Potential $1.2 Billion Neurological Disease Deal

Adding to past dealings with each other, Sosei Heptares and Abbvie are teaming up again, this time focusing on neurological disease drug discovery and development. Abbvie plans to leverage the Japanese company’s proprietary platforms, which will net Sosei Heptares up to $80 million in upfront and near-term payments with a potential of $1.2 billion in future development and commercial milestones.

Aiming for Neurological Disease Targets with GPCR Technology

Sosei Heptare’s primary focus is G Protein-Coupled Receptors (GPCRs), a family of cell membrane proteins that act as a signaling pathway for various biological processes. The company says its StaR (stabilized receptor) technology stabilizes GPCR proteins, so they maintain their structure even after being removed from the cell membrane. Sosei says this technology could allow for safer and more effective drug development processes.

As part of the deal, Abbvie hopes to leverage the StaR platform to discover and develop drugs with new neurological targets. Sosei will be responsible for conducting and funding research and development activities up to investigational new drug (IND)-enabling studies. After that point, Abbvie would have the right to license up to three programs and take over responsibility for clinical, regulatory, and commercial development.

Sosei will receive $40 million upfront upon signing the deal, and it will be eligible for an additional $40 million over the next year for research milestones. If all goes well, the Japanese company could make up to $1.2 billion in development and commercial milestones, plus tiered royalties based on global sales of potential products.

Head of UK Research and Development at Sosei Heptares, Matt Barnes, said, “We are delighted to enter this new multi-target discovery collaboration with AbbVie in the neuroscience area, a therapeutic area in which we share deep and complementary experience and expertise.”

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Two Companies Building on Past Experiences

Sosei Heptares and Abbvie are no strangers to each other, having collaborated in June 2020 to target inflammatory diseases. Under similar conditions, using Sosei’s StaR platform, that deal brought Sosei $37 million upfront with the potential for $377 million in future milestone payments.

Both companies are familiar with the neurological disease sector, with Sosei partnering with Neurocrine Biosciences in November last year to develop treatment options for schizophrenia, dementia, and other neuropsychiatric disorders. The deal with Neurocrine brought Sosei $100 million upfront with the potential for $2.6 billion in other milestone payments.

Abbvie has a rich history of neurological disease treatment development with 19 approved neuroscience drugs with blockbusters like Botox and Lexapro. The pharma giant continues to push the envelope of neurological disease treatment development with nine drugs in its pipeline, several of which are in late-stage clinical trials or submitted for approval.

Sosei Heptares’ StaR platform has brought in hundreds of millions of dollars in funding so far and the deal with Abbvie is another step in the progression of the promising technology. The duo’s partnership will hopefully result in some promising treatment options for neurological diseases that Abbvie will be able to bring to market one day to treat the tricky disease area.

Author

Reed Slater