AbbVie is boosting its already strong presence in immunology with the acquisition of Apogee Therapeutics, a clinical-stage biotech whose most advanced drug candidate could bring advantages over several currently available atopic dermatitis medications, including one of the pharmaceutical company’s own products.
Under deal terms announced Monday, AbbVie has agreed to pay $135.11 in cash for each share of Apogee. That price is a 49% premium to Apogee’s closing stock price last Thursday, the last trading day before the deal was announced. When Apogee went public in 2023, it priced the IPO at $17 per share.
Waltham, Massachusetts-based Apogee develops drugs for inflammation and immunology. Its biologic medicines go after validated targets, but with improvements in efficacy and dosing. The biotech’s most advanced program is zumilokibart, an antibody that’s on track to begin Phase 3 testing in atopic dermatitis, also called eczema. This drug is designed to target IL-13, a signaling protein involved in inflammation.
Apogee engineered zumilokibart to have a longer half-life that can support dosing of the subcutaneously injected biologic every three or six months. That’s an advantage over many biologic medicines for atopic dermatitis that are administered every two to four weeks. The Apogee drug offers pipeline in a product potential with mid-stage studies planned to evaluate it in in asthma and eosinophilic esophagitis.
Zumilokibart also has the potential to be part of drug combinations. The company is testing the IL-13 inhibitor paired with APG990, a half-life extended antibody designed to inhibit OX40L, a protein involved in immune and inflammatory responses. This drug combination, codenamed APG279, is in Phase 1 testing.
Another combination program, APG273, is developing the pairing of zumilokibart with APG333, an antibody designed to block TSLP, a protein that several biopharmaceutical companies are pursuing with longer-acting antibodies. APG273 is in preclinical development for asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). In the Apogee acquisition announcement, AbbVie said the deal accelerates its presence in respiratory drug R&D.
“The acquisition of Apogee further builds on our existing leadership, strengthening our ability to deliver innovative medicines to patients who need better options while also creating significant long-term value for shareholders,” AbbVie Chairman and CEO Robert Michael said in a prepared statement. “Apogee’s pipeline adds highly differentiated clinical-stage assets, further expanding our robust immunology portfolio in areas of significant patient need, including atopic dermatitis and asthma.”
Immunology is AbbVie’s largest therapeutic area. The company’s top immunology and inflammation drug is Skyrizi, an antibody designed to block IL-23 by binding to p19, a subunit of the protein. Skyrizi has approvals for treating plaque psoriasis, psoriatic arthritis, Crohn’s disease, and ulcerative colitis. AbbVie’s presence in atopic dermatitis is through Rinvoq, an oral small molecule designed to inhibit JAK proteins. But products in the JAK inhibitor drug class carry black box warnings on their labels due to a higher risk of cancers and cardiovascular complications.
In a Monday research note, William Blair analyst Matt Phipps characterized the Apogee purchase price as “fairly expensive,” but added that zumilokibart clearly fits AbbVie’s experience in immunology and inflammation while also bringing the company a way to expand to respiratory indications. Last month, Apogee struck a royalty deal with Blackstone Life Sciences to secure non-dilutive financing for clinical development of zumilokibart. Phipps said the timing of the acquisition allows AbbVie to accelerate Phase 3 development of Apogee’s lead drug and reduce future potential royalties owed to Blackstone.
Apogee emerged in 2022, spinning out of Paragon Therapeutics, the biologic drug discovery engine of Fairmount Funds. It was the first startup spun out of Paragon and the first of these companies go public. Paragon has since spun out five more companies.
The Apogee acquisition is AbbVie’s largest M&A deal since 2024, when it closed the $10.1 billion purchase of Immunogen, a specialist in antibody drug conjugates for cancer. AbbVie’s largest ever acquisition was the $63 billion buyout of Botox maker Allergan, which now makes up the pharma company’s aesthetics division. The AbbVie and Apogee boards of directors have approved the Apogee deal, which still needs regulatory and shareholder approvals. The companies expect to close the transaction in the third quarter of this year.
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