AbbVie and ADARx Pharmaceuticals Announce Collaboration and License Option Agreement to Develop Next-Generation siRNA Therapies Across Multiple Therapeutic Areas

-        Collaboration to leverage AbbVie's expertise in biotherapeutic drug development and commercialization together with ADARx's proprietary RNA technology to advance next-generation siRNA therapies across neuroscience, immunology and oncology

NORTH CHICAGO, Ill. and SAN DIEGO, May 14, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) and ADARx Pharmaceuticals, a late clinical-stage biotechnology company developing next-generation RNA therapeutics, today announced a collaboration and license option agreement to develop small interfering RNA (siRNA) therapeutics across multiple disease areas, including neuroscience, immunology and oncology.

siRNA represents a class of molecules capable of regulating gene expression and protein production. Unlike traditional modalities such as antibodies and small molecules, siRNA regulates the expression of genes. These molecules are designed to prevent the production of disease-causing proteins by targeting the messenger RNA (mRNA) that encodes for such proteins.

The strategic collaboration will leverage ADARx's RNA discovery expertise and proprietary siRNA technology, which has the potential to enable sustained and precise mRNA silencing. AbbVie will contribute its expertise in antibody engineering, antibody drug conjugates (ADCs) and tissue delivery approaches as appropriate, to augment ADARx's discovery efforts.

"siRNA is a promising genetic medicine approach for silencing disease-causing genes, but challenges still remain in targeting and delivering siRNA effectively," said Jonathon Sedgwick, Ph.D., senior vice president and global head, discovery research, AbbVie. "We are very pleased to collaborate with ADARx, leveraging their proprietary RNA technology alongside our antibody, ADC, and therapeutic area research and development expertise to bring siRNA forward as a potential novel therapeutic modality alongside our other established approaches. Together, we're committed to developing innovative solutions for difficult-to-treat diseases across neuroscience, immunology and oncology."

"This collaboration with AbbVie further validates the differentiated RNA technology that we have developed at ADARx and has the potential to unlock tremendous clinical and commercial potential across multiple disease areas. AbbVie's research and development expertise combined with its global commercial reach make them the ideal strategic collaborator to accelerate these programs for the potential benefit of patients worldwide," said Zhen Li, Ph.D., co-founder, president and chief executive officer of ADARx. "In addition to this strategic collaboration with AbbVie, ADARx continues to advance a deep pipeline of wholly-owned clinical-stage programs that span complement-mediated, cardiovascular and thrombotic diseases and various preclinical discovery programs including in obesity and neurodegeneration."

Under the terms of the agreement, ADARx will receive a $335 million upfront payment and will be eligible to receive several billion dollars in additional contingent payments including option-related fees and milestone payments, as well as tiered royalties.

About AbbVie

AbbVie's mission is to discover and deliver innovative medicines and solutions that solve serious health issues today and address the medical challenges of tomorrow. We strive to have a remarkable impact on people's lives across several key therapeutic areas including immunology, oncology, neuroscience and eye care – and products and services in our Allergan Aesthetics portfolio. For more information about AbbVie, please visit us at www.abbvie.com. Follow @abbvie on LinkedIn, Facebook, Instagram, X (formerly Twitter) and YouTube.

About ADARx Pharmaceuticals 

ADARx Pharmaceuticals, Inc. is a late clinical-stage biotechnology company dedicated to transforming cutting-edge science into next-generation RNA medicines across a wide range of therapeutic areas. Our goal is to control the expression of specific disease drivers with highly selective RNA targeted therapies, delivering life-changing treatments for patients with urgent unmet medical needs. We are focused on advancing and expanding a deep pipeline of highly potent, durable and selective RNA-targeted therapeutic candidates, initially developing our product candidates for the treatment of complement-mediated, genetic, cardiovascular, central nervous system and metabolic (obesity) diseases. Follow ADARx on LinkedIn.

Forward-Looking Statements 

Some statements in this news release are, or may be considered, forward-looking statements for purposes of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. The words "believe," "expect," "anticipate," "project" and similar expressions and uses of future or conditional verbs, generally identify forward-looking statements. AbbVie cautions that these forward-looking statements are subject to risks and uncertainties that may cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed or implied in the forward-looking statements. Such risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to, challenges to intellectual property, competition from other products, difficulties inherent in the research and development process, adverse litigation or government action, changes to laws and regulations applicable to our industry, the impact of global macroeconomic factors, such as economic downturns or uncertainty, international conflict, trade disputes and tariffs, and other uncertainties and risks associated with global business operations. Additional information about the economic, competitive, governmental, technological and other factors that may affect AbbVie's operations is set forth in Item 1A, "Risk Factors," of AbbVie's 2024 Annual Report on Form 10-K, which has been filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission, as updated by its Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q and in other documents that AbbVie subsequently files with the Securities and Exchange Commission that update, supplement or supersede such information. AbbVie undertakes no obligation, and specifically declines, to release publicly any revisions to forward-looking statements as a result of subsequent events or developments, except as required by law.

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SOURCE AbbVie