AbbVie and Nimble Therapeutics have announced an acquisition deal in which AbbVie will gain ownership of the company’s pipeline of oral peptide candidates. As part of the $200 million agreement, AbbVie will also acquire Nimble’s proprietary technology platform for peptide synthesis, screening, and optimization.
Nimble Therapeutics was founded in 2019 as a spinout of Roche, with the goal of discovering novel oral peptide-based medicines. The company was given $10 million and a chemical synthesis platform developed at Roche, along with the team that created it.
“Nimble Therapeutics is committed to transforming the discovery of oral peptide-based medicines. With AbbVie’s world-class expertise in developing and commercializing medicines on a global scale, Nimble’s novel oral therapies will be well-positioned to reach more people living with autoimmune diseases,” said Jigar Patel, founder and chief executive officer of Nimble Therapeutics.
An emerging immunology pipeline
“The talented, passionate and dedicated team at Nimble has made great progress over the past few years and we are pleased that AbbVie has recognized the tremendous potential of our proprietary platform and emerging immunology pipeline.”
Nimble’s lead drug candidate is an oral peptide currently in preclinical development for the treatment of psoriasis. The drug is designed to inhibit the interleukin-23 (IL23) receptor, a therapeutic target in autoimmune diseases that contributes to the progression of conditions such as psoriasis and inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) by amplifying the inflammatory and immune responses.
AbbVie’s injectable antibody drug Skyrizi (risankizumab) also targets IL23. The injectable drug was approved for the treatment of psoriasis in 2019 and as a treatment for ulcerative colitis earlier this year. According to Nimble Therapeutics, its oral drug candidate is intended to “offer a more effective oral therapy option for patients seeking less invasive, more effective and convenient treatments.”
Significant unmet medical need
“The addition of Nimble’s pipeline to AbbVie’s existing pipeline, combined with our deep clinical and translational expertise in immunology, represents an important growth opportunity,” said Jonathon Sedgwick, senior vice president and global head of discovery research at AbbVie. “Together, AbbVie and Nimble have the potential to help address the significant unmet medical need for people living with autoimmune diseases.”