AbbVie, EvolveImmune Therapeutics Strike Deal to Develop Biotherapeutics for Resistant Cancer Cells

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AbbVie and EvolveImmune Therapeutics have agreed to terms to develop novel antibody-based therapies for cancer cells that are resistant to current immunotherapies. According to AbbVie, the collaboration will leverage EvolveImmune's EVOLVE platform, which uses T-cell co-stimulation to bypass low tumor immunogenicity and enhance tumor-killing capabilities as the foundation for these therapies. The partnership also aims to address the limitations of current immunotherapies, particularly in solid and hematologic malignancies.¹

"AbbVie is dedicated to advancing the understanding of devastating diseases like cancer and investing in groundbreaking technologies and therapeutic platforms, to deliver novel treatments for patients with high unmet needs," said Jonathon Sedgwick, PhD, SVP, global head, discovery research, AbbVie, in a press release. "We are excited to collaborate with the talented team at EvolveImmune to further advance their novel T-cell engager platform technology."

Under terms of the deal, EvolveImmune will receive $65 million in aggregate upfront fees and equity investment from AbbVie, with the potential to receive up to $1.4 billion in aggregate option fees and milestones, as well as tiered royalty payments on net sales.¹

Earlier this month, EvolveImmune announced that new preclinical data highlighting the EVOLVE platform will be presented at the 39th Annual Meeting of the Society for Immunotherapy of Cancer. This includes EVOLVE104, a novel multi-functional T-cell engager with integrated CD2 co-stimulation, for the treatment of solid tumors. Additionally, the company will present data on EVOLVE205, a CD20-targeted CD2 co-stimulatory T cell engager.

According to the company, these findings will demonstrate the versatility of the EVOLVE platform in addressing the limitations of current immunotherapies and provide a strong foundation for advancing its pipeline into clinical development. Further, EvolveImmune stated that the technology enables the discovery and development of first-in-category precision immuno-oncology agents with an enhanced likelihood of clinical success.²

“The upcoming SITC conference offers an ideal forum for us to share our significant pipeline progress not only with EVOLVE104 but also our success in unlocking the broad potential of the EVOLVE platform to enable the design of next-generation T cell engagers capable of overcoming therapeutic limitations of current immuno-oncology treatments,” said Jay Fine, PhD, president, research and development, EvolveImmune, in a press release. “Our robust preclinical work on EVOLVE104 continues to build optimism for the clinical potential of the program, and we look forward to completing IND-enabling activities and advancing the compound into first-in-human studies in the coming year. At the same time, our excitement around our foundational EVOLVE technology and its fully integrated CD2 co-stimulation has never been greater.”

Earlier this week, AbbVie also announced that it had agreed to terms to acquire Aliada Therapeutics, a biotechnology company focused on developing therapies for central nervous system diseases. The acquisition is expected to strengthen AbbVie’s R&D capabilities by leveraging Aliada's novel blood-brain barrier-crossing technology, the MODEL platform.³ Last week, AbbVie announced another collaboration with Gedeon Richter to discover and develop novel targets for neuropsychiatric conditions.⁴

"This collaboration with AbbVie, a global leader in oncology, offers tremendous validation of the EVOLVE platform and the dedicated and creative work of the EvolveImmune team," said Stephen Bloch, MD, CEO, EvolveImmune, in the press release. "We believe that EVOLVE, with its differentiated CD2 co-stimulation strategy, represents a potential next-generation, best-in-class T-cell engager platform and that our technology may offer clinically meaningful benefits for patients."

References

1. AbbVie and EvolveImmune Therapeutics Announce Collaboration and Option-to-License Agreement to Develop Next-Generation Cancer Biotherapeutics. AbbVie. October 31, 2024. Accessed October 31, 2024. https://news.abbvie.com/2024-10-31-AbbVie-and-EvolveImmune-Therapeutics-Announce-Collaboration-and-Option-to-License-Agreement-to-Develop-Next-Generation-Cancer-Biotherapeutics

2. EvolveImmune Therapeutics to Present New Preclinical Data Highlighting Pipeline Progress for EVOLVE T Cell Engager Platform at 39th Annual Meeting of the Society for Immunotherapy of Cancer (SITC). GlobeNewswire. October 23, 2024. Accessed October 31, 2024. https://www.globenewswire.com/news-release/2024/10/23/2967624/0/en/EvolveImmune-Therapeutics-to-Present-New-Preclinical-Data-Highlighting-Pipeline-Progress-for-EVOLVE-T-Cell-Engager-Platform-at-39th-Annual-Meeting-of-the-Society-for-Immunotherapy-.html

3. AbbVie Agrees to Terms to Acquire Aliada Therapeutics. Pharm Exec. October 28, 2024. Accessed October 31, 2024. https://www.pharmexec.com/view/abbvie-agrees-terms-acquire-aliada-therapeutics

4. AbbVie, Gedeon Richter Ink Deal to Develop Novel Targets for Neuropsychiatric Conditions. PharmExec. October 25, 2024. Accessed October 31, 2024. https://www.pharmexec.com/view/abbvie-gedeon-richter-ink-deal-develop-novel-targets-neuropsychiatric-conditions