AbbVie and Calico Extend Age-Related Disease Collaboration

AbbVie and Calico Life Sciences announced the second extension of their collaboration, which started in 2014, to discover, develop, and market new therapies for patients diagnosed with age-related diseases, such as neurodegeneration and cancer.

Calico does discovery-stage research and development, in their part of the collaboration, and AbbVie provides scientific and clinical development support, also it will help any future commercialization activities. During its existence, the partnership has created more than 20 early-stage programs addressing diseases across immune-oncology and neurodegeneration which has yielded new insights into the biology of again. An example would be the 3 neurodegeneration and cancer targets into the clinic, with a preclinical pipeline. 

"Our 3 clinical initiatives and more than 20 discovery and preclinical programs to date are clear evidence of how productive a partnership we've established." Aarif Khakoo, MD, head of research and development, Calico, San Francisco, California, says. "This additional extension validates our original vision and is a testament to the collective efforts of many people from both organizations who are working to deepen our understanding of specific disease pathways and develop novel therapies for patients."  

The terms of the agreement state that the collaboration between the 2 companies will extend an extra 3 years to 2025, with Calico responsible to research and early development until 2025 and will advance collaboration projects into phase 2a through 2030. On the other hand, AbbVie will continue supporting Calico in its early research and development efforts and after the completion of phase 2a studies, will have the option to manage the late-stage development and commercialization. Both companies will share costs and profits equally and commit to contribute an additional $500 million to the collaboration.

"The extension of this collaboration enables Calico's world-class scientists and the AbbVie Discovery team to continue to build on the transformative research we've done and advance more preclinical and clinical programs that have first-in-class potential," says Gerry Fox, PhD, vice president of discovery, AbbVie, Chicago, Illinois. 

Reference:

1. AbbVie and Calico announce second extension of collaboration focused on aging and age-related diseases. Cision PR Newswire. Press release. July 27, 2021. Accessed August 3, 2021. https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/abbvie-and-calico-announce-second-extension-of-collaboration-focused-on-aging-and-age-related-diseases-301341606.html