AbbVie is paying $200 million to snap up Nimble Therapeutics, a Roche spinout working to develop oral peptide treatments in the autoimmune space.
As part of the acquisition, the North Chicago-based Big Pharma will also dole out undisclosed interim payments, according to a Dec. 13 announcement. Shareholders of the private biotech could also receive a potential payment tied to an undisclosed development milestone.
Madison, Wisconsin-based Nimble’s lead asset is a preclinical IL23R inhibitor being developed as a psoriasis treatment. The candidate is also being evaluated as a possible inflammatory bowel disease treatment.
The rest of the biotech’s early-stage pipeline includes other oral peptides across autoimmune diseases “where significant unmet needs remain,” according to the release.
AbbVie will also acquire Nimble's peptide synthesis platform, which is used to discover and optimize oral peptide therapeutics.
“With AbbVie's world-class expertise in developing and commercializing medicines on a global scale, Nimble's novel oral therapies will be well-positioned to reach more people living with autoimmune diseases," Nimble founder and CEO Jigar Patel, Ph.D., said in the release.
Back in 2019, Roche spun out Nimble with a $10 million series A and chemical synthesis tech developed by the Swiss drugmaker, plus the team that helped create it.
In 2020, Roche’s Genentech inked a deal with the biotech, expanding the collab in 2023 to discover peptide therapies across multiple indications and include up to $1.1 billion in biobucks.
Nimble also had drug development partnerships with radiopharma-focused RayzeBio and Jakafi seller Incyte. The biotech is backed by founding investors Telegraph Hill Partners and Roche Ventures.
The Nimble announcement comes just two days after AbbVie completed a $1.4 billion acquisition of Aliada Therapeutics and its ex-Johnson & Johnson Alzheimer’s candidate that aims to improve on the first generation of anti-amyloid-beta antibodies.
AbbVie’s deal-heavy year has also included the $250 million cash purchase of inflammatory disease-focused Celsius Therapeutics announced this summer.