BioArctic has announced that its partner AbbVie has made the decision to terminate the collaboration between the two companies on the portfolio of alpha-synuclein antibodies, including ABBV-0805.
The two companies have worked in partnership since 2016 on R&D for BioArctic’s portfolio of alpha-synuclein antibodies for Parkinson’s disease and other conditions.
A phase 1 study of the lead asset, ABBV-0805, began in 2019. In September 2021, results from the study were presented at the International Congress of Parkinson’s Disease and Movement Disorders (MDS), which supported moving into phase 2 studies, with participants receiving once-monthly dosing.
ABBV-0805 is a monoclonal antibody drug candidate that is created to selectively bind and remove aggregated forms of alpha-synuclein such as oligomers and protofibrils, which are found in neurodegenerative conditions like Parkinson’s disease. The aim is to design a disease-altering treatment that can stop or decrease the progression of Parkinson’s disease.
When the two companies began their research contract in 2016, AbbVie then had the right to acquire a licence for the development and commercialisation of BioArctic’s portfolio of alpha-synuclein antibodies for Parkinson’s disease and other conditions.
AbbVie exercised this option in late 2018 and in 2019 a phase 1 study of ABBV-0805 was initiated, with AbbVie managing and funding the clinical development of the monoclonal antibody. The scope of ABBV-0805 may be expanded to include Lewy body dementia and multiple system atrophy.
Speaking about the termination of the partnership with AbbVie, Gunilla Osswald, BioArctic’s CEO said: “We are disappointed that AbbVie has taken this decision. All available data indicates that ABBV0805 has uniquely high selectivity for the pathological forms of aggregated alpha-synuclein, as well as phase 1 data supporting progression to phase 2.
“We believe that ABBV-0805 has the potential to become a disease-modifying treatment for people with Parkinson’s disease and will now investigate options to continue the development of this asset.”