AbbVie partners with Iambic on AI-driven drug discovery

AbbVie and Iambic, a clinical-stage life sciences and technology company developing novel medicines through its AI-driven discovery and development platform, announced a multi-year collaboration to accelerate the discovery and development of small molecule therapies with first-in-class and best-in-class potential across immunology, neuroscience and oncology.

The companies are expected to leverage Iambic's AI platform to improve the efficiency and success of identifying promising new drug candidates.¹

Under the terms of the collaboration, Iambic will receive an upfront payment and is eligible to receive success-based milestone payments and tiered royalties on net sales from products generated from the collaboration.¹

In traditional small molecule discovery, scientists evaluate dozens of properties for each candidate individually. Iambic's molecular superintelligence platform is powered by Enchant and NeuralPLexer, technologies designed to optimize the full range of candidate properties simultaneously, increasing the chance of making better molecules while reducing drug discovery timelines.¹

The collaboration will utilize Enchant v3, Iambic's next-generation multimodal transformer model that combines biomedical data modalities from across the drug discovery process and enables many drug design hypotheses to be tested in parallel and at scale.¹ Enchant v3 is designed to achieve industry-leading prediction accuracy across drug discovery and development and is trained on over 6,000 molecular properties.¹

"We are excited about the purpose-built AI capabilities Iambic is bringing to our discovery scientists," said Nicholas Donoghoe, M.D., executive vice president and chief business and strategy officer, AbbVie. "We believe AI will be a powerful catalyst for scientific innovation across AbbVie. By equipping our teams with fit-for-purpose AI solutions, we can accelerate discovery, expand what is possible in R&D and significantly advance our commitment to making a remarkable impact for patients."

Telix Pharmaceuticals to merge with ITM

Telix Pharmaceuticals Limited has signed a strategic agreement to lead a merger with ITM Isotope Technologies Munich SE, a global leader in radioisotope production and radiopharmaceutical development.

Under the terms of the agreement ,and subject to shareholder approval, Telix will acquire 100% of the shares in ITM for $1.65 billion upfront on a cash-free, debt-free basis, made up of $1.25 billion paid to sellers in the form of 105.8 million Telix shares, $302 million of net debt assumed by Telix at closing, and $96 million of management equity rollover and transaction expenses payable by the sellers.²

Additional contingent consideration of up to $700 million will become payable upon the achievement of specified regulatory approvals and sales milestones for Itm-11, including up to $250 million tied to FDA approval across three indications and up to $450 million based on Itm-11 net global sales in FY 2030 in excess of $150 million.²

Upon completion, Telix shareholders will own approximately 76.3% and ITM shareholders will own approximately 23.7% of Telix shares on issue.² The transaction has been approved by Telix's board of directors and, as of signing, shareholders holding over 90% of ITM's shares, and is expected to close by the end of FY 2026.

"This merger positions Telix at the forefront of the consolidation that is occurring as the industry matures. ITM is the leader in radioisotope production, with deep scientific expertise and a track record of value-adding innovation," said Dr. Christian Behrenbruch, managing director and group chief executive officer, Telix. "We have enjoyed a close working relationship with ITM for many years and there is strong management alignment for the rationale behind this transaction. By combining our complementary strengths, we will create a company with commercial scale, world-leading supply and the most exciting theranostic drug portfolio in the sector. Importantly, this combination further expands our late-stage therapeutic pipeline with two completed Phase III trials and deepens radioisotope security, while bringing together the mission-critical capabilities needed to deliver radiopharmaceutical treatments to patients around the world."

Sources

1. AbbVie and Iambic Announce Collaboration to Accelerate AI-driven Drug Discovery AbbVie September 21, 2026, https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/abbvie-and-iambic-announce-collaboration-to-accelerate-ai-driven-drug-discovery-302883724.html
2. Telix and ITM Join Forces to Create a Radiopharmaceutical Powerhouse Telix ITM September 20, 2026, https://www.globenewswire.com/news-release/2026/09/21/3365113/0/en/telix-and-itm-join-forces-to-create-a-radiopharmaceutical-powerhouse.html