AbbVie adds psoriasis med with Nimble takeover

AbbVie has agreed a $200 million-plus takeover deal with Roche spinout Nimble Therapeutics that will give it control of a preclinical-stage, oral drug for psoriasis.

US-based Nimble was set up in 2019 to take forward a series of oral peptide drugs with potential as treatments for various immunological and inflammatory disorders headed by the inhibitor of the IL-23 receptor, a well-validated target, which is being prepared for clinical testing in psoriasis and inflammatory bowel disease.

The deal gives AbbVie access to Nimble's proprietary peptide drug discovery engine, which has also generated candidates for Roche and another undisclosed large pharma group.

At the heart of the platform is a light-directed peptide synthesis technology that can generate millions of peptidomimetic compounds from a library of more than 2,000 natural and non-natural amino acids.

Headquartered in Madison, Wisconsin, Nimble opened a second R&D facility in Philadelphia earlier this year to cater for its growing pipeline of early-stage candidates and prepare to move them into clinical testing. Its pipeline also includes a C5-targeting drug for myasthenia gravis and a TL1A inhibitor.

AbbVie's global head of discovery research, Jonathon Sedgwick, said that combining Nimble's platform with AbbVie's "clinical and translational expertise in immunology…represents an important growth opportunity."

Under the terms of the agreement, AbbVie will make a $200 million cash purchase of Nimble on deal closing that is subject to "customary adjustments", with an additional payment also due that is tied to the achievement of a development objective.

The IL-23 pathway is already targeted by various injectable antibody-based drugs, including AbbVie's own Skyrizi (risankizumab) – which is FDA-approved for plaque psoriasis, psoriatic arthritis, Crohn's disease, and ulcerative colitis – as well as Johnson & Johnson's Stelara (ustekinumab) and Tremfya (guselkumab), Eli Lilly's Omvoh (mirikizumab), and Sun Pharma's Ilumya (tildrakizumab).

Oral IL-23-directed alternatives are starting to filter through the industry pipeline that aim to offer more convenient dosing to the injectables, including J&J's JNJ-2113, which has already generated encouraging phase 2b data in psoriasis.

There's already stiff competition in the oral psoriasis category, however, from drugs with different mechanisms of action, including Amgen's PDE4 inhibitor Otezla (apremilast) – already making blockbuster sales – and Bristol-Myers Squibb's TYK2 inhibitor Sotyktu (deucravacitinib).

AbbVie is one of the top companies in immunology and inflammation, dominating the category for years with its TNF inhibitor Humira (adalimumab), which is now subject to biosimilar competition and seeing its sales erode. To offset that decline, the company is looking to newer drugs like Skyrizi and JAK inhibitor Rinvoq (upadacitinib).