Source – AbbVie
On July 26, 2023, AbbVie and Calibr announced expanded strategic collaboration to advance several innovative preclinical and early-stage clinical assets across AbbVie’s core therapeutic growth areas including immunology, oncology, neuroscience and other areas of interest. This enhanced partnership builds upon the existing collaboration formed between AbbVie and Scripps Research back in 2019, with the objective of developing a wide range of potential novel therapeutics.
“We’ve made significant progress to advance rapidly many preclinical and clinical development programs across small molecule, biologics and CAR-T modalities,” said Thomas Hudson, M.D., senior vice president, research and development, chief scientific officer, AbbVie. “Working together with Calibr, AbbVie is excited to explore and further develop the potential of novel technologies and new clinical indications to bring breakthrough medicines to patients.”
In addition to the programs previously identified in the collaboration, which were at different stages of development, Calibr (a nonprofit institute closely linked to Scripps Research) will now propose several new discovery targets and preclinical assets of mutual interest to AbbVie for further consideration.
“AbbVie has been a trusted partner to Scripps Research for many years, as proven by our successful ongoing R&D collaborations spanning numerous disease areas that have yielded four clinical stage programs. This expansion represents an important step forward in our mission of translating scientific insights and discoveries into innovative, clinically validated drugs, and we believe it is a model for biomedical industry-nonprofit R&D partnerships.”
– Peter Schultz, PhD, President and Chief Executive Officer of Scripps Research and Calibr
As per the terms of this agreement, AbbVie will make research option payments to Calibr over a five-year period. These payments grant AbbVie a first-exclusive option to take charge of developing and commercializing candidates that arise from the independent preclinical research conducted by Calibr. The ultimate aim is to bolster AbbVie’s pipeline of therapeutic programs. Once AbbVie decides to exercise its option on a specific program, Calibr becomes eligible to receive additional payments from AbbVie. These payments include option exercise fees, success-based development and commercial milestone payments, as well as tiered royalties.
Calibr’s foundation is built on the belief that combining top-notch biomedical research with cutting-edge drug discovery and development capabilities can accelerate the creation of new medicines. Leveraging the unique scientific framework of Scripps Research, Calibr has successfully developed a portfolio of drug candidates based on Scripps technologies. Their work is pioneering a fresh approach to advancing nonprofit biomedical research, ultimately making a positive impact on patients’ lives.
