AbbVie announced today it will acquire Boston-based Aliada Therapeutics in a $1.4 billion cash deal, expanding its presence in neuroscience and Alzheimer’s disease research. The acquisition gives AbbVie access to Aliada’s novel blood-brain barrier crossing technology and its promising Alzheimer’s drug candidate.
Aliada’s lead compound, ALIA-1758, is an antibody therapy currently in Phase 1 clinical trials. The drug targets pyroglutamate amyloid beta, a component of the brain plaques characteristic of Alzheimer’s disease. What makes ALIA-1758 particularly notable is its use of Aliada’s proprietary MODEL™ platform, which helps therapeutic compounds cross the blood-brain barrier more effectively.
“Many promising CNS-targeted therapies fail to reach late-stage trials due to their inability to cross the blood-brain barrier,” explained Dr. Michael Ryan, Aliada’s chief medical officer. “Our MODEL™ platform addresses this challenge directly.”
The technology works by targeting specific receptors (transferrin and CD98) that are abundant in brain blood vessel cells, potentially offering a more efficient way to deliver various types of drugs to the brain, including antibodies and genetic medicines.
Dr. Roopal Thakkar, AbbVie’s chief scientific officer, emphasized that neuroscience is a key growth area for the company. “This acquisition immediately positions us to advance ALIA-1758, a potentially best-in-class disease-modifying therapy for Alzheimer’s disease,” he said.
Aliada, founded in 2021 through investments from Johnson & Johnson, RA Capital Management, and other venture capital firms, has developed its technology based on research originally conducted at Johnson & Johnson.
The transaction is expected to close in the fourth quarter of 2024, subject to regulatory approvals and standard closing conditions.