AbbVie to Acquire Landos Biopharma

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The pharma acquisitions continue.

AbbVie announced in a press release that it has entered in an agreement with Landos Biopharma to acquire the company.¹ This will bring the clinical stage biopharmaceutical company’s pipeline under AbbVie’s umbrella. This includes Landos’ lead drug, NX-13.

According to a press release, AbbVie will pay $20.42 per share, which amounts to about $137.5 million total. The deal also has an additional $75 million clause which is subject to the achievement of a clinical development milestone. The deal still needs to go through regulatory approval, but assuming everything goes to plan, it is expected to close in the second quarter of this year.

In a press release, senior vice president and chief medical officer at AbbVie said, “With this acquisition, we aim to advance the clinical development of NX-13, a differentiated, first-in-class, oral asset with the potential to make a difference in the lives of people living with ulcerative colitis and Crohn's disease.”

In the same press release, Lando’s president and chief executive officer Gregory Oakes said, “This announcement is a testament to Landos' talented team and their commitment to our mission of creating oral treatments that can address a therapeutic gap. NX-13 and its bimodal MOA have the potential to provide a novel approach to the treatment of ulcerative colitis and Crohn's disease. With AbbVie's therapeutic area leadership and expertise in global development, they are the right company to further advance NX-13."

NX-13 is an anti-inflammatory drug that facilitates epithelial repair. It is currently in Phase II trials.

This is just the latest acquisition in the life sciences industry this year. While M&A has always been a large part of the life sciences, there was a brief period after the pandemic when M&A slowed to a halt. This was due to many of the larger companies having to tighten their budgets as investors backed away from the industry.

Last year, however, saw a big return of M&A. There was some concern that companies may have blown through their budgets and there would be a downturn during the early months of 2024. That doesn’t appear to be the case, however, and many companies are continuing to pursue pipeline bolstering acquisitions.

Source

1. AbbVie to Acquire Landos Biopharma, Further Strengthening its Portfolio in Inflammatory and Autoimmune Diseases. AbbVie. March 25, 2024. https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/abbvie-to-acquire-landos-biopharma-further-strengthening-its-portfolio-in-inflammatory-and-autoimmune-diseases-302098124.html