AbbVie, Galapagos Restructure CF Collaboration

On Oct. 24, 2018, research-based biopharmaceutical company AbbVie announced that it has revised its collaboration with Galapagos, a clinical-stage biotechnology company specialized in the discovery and development of small-molecule medicines, to discover and develop new therapies to treat cystic fibrosis (CF). Under the revised agreement, AbbVie will now assume full development and commercial responsibility for the collaboration. 

AbbVie will assume full development and commercial responsibility over the investigational program consisting of several clinical and pre-clinical compounds originally discovered and developed jointly by AbbVie and Galapagos. Galapagos will receive an upfront payment of $45 million from AbbVie. Galapagos will be eligible to receive up to $200 million in additional milestone payments from AbbVie pending completion of certain development, regulatory, and commercial achievements in CF. In the event AbbVie receives regulatory approval and realizes commercial sales in CF, Galapagos will be further eligible to receive royalties.

Galapagos will not pursue further research and development in CF but is eligible for future milestones and royalties on commercialized programs. Galapagos retains exclusive global commercial rights to develop GLPG2737, a candidate cystic fibrosis transmembrane conductance regulator (CFTR) corrector, in all indications outside of CF. AbbVie is eligible for future milestone payments and tiered single digit royalties on future global commercial sales, if approved, in indications outside CF.

"AbbVie has a long-standing commitment to finding improved treatment options for CF and our recent work has resulted in advancements that have broadened our understanding of the molecular and genetic basis of this disease," said Michael Severino, MD, executive vice-president of research and development and chief scientific officer, AbbVie, in a company press release. "We have a proven track record working with challenging molecular targets across a wide range of life-threatening illnesses and will harness this expertise to progress the next-generation of CF treatment. Our previous work with Galapagos has identified a number of promising candidates and we thank them for their contribution to our partnership."

AbbVie's research program aims to develop a triple-combination therapy for patients living with CF. The program, currently in early clinical development, consists of mechanistically distinct drug-candidates-‘potentiators’ and ‘correctors’-which collectively increase the activity of the mutated copies of the CFTR protein that causes CF.

Source: AbbVie, Galapagos