AbbVie and Lupin Announce $1 Billion Strategic Collaboration to Develop First-in-Class MALT1 Inhibitor for Hematologic Malignancies

VCBeat (WeChat Official Account: vcbeat) has learned that U.S. biotechnology giant AbbVie and Indian pharmaceutical major Lupin have recently entered into a strategic collaboration to discover and develop a novel class of oncology drugs for the treatment of hematologic malignancies.

According to a released statement, Lupin has granted AbbVie exclusive global rights to the development and commercialization of its first-in-class MALT1 (mucosa-associated lymphoid tissue lymphoma translocation protein 1) inhibitor program. MALT1 is a protein involved in the activation of T-cell and B-cell lymphocytes, and AbbVie plans to develop multiple inhibitors within the MALT1 inhibitor program for use in a range of hematologic cancers.

It is reported that AbbVie will pay Lupin a $30 million upfront payment to secure the exclusive license for Lupin’s MALT-1 inhibitor program. Upon successful completion of regulatory, development, and commercialization milestones, Lupin will be eligible for milestone payments totaling up to $947 million. In addition, Lupin will be entitled to double-digit royalties on future sales of products arising from this collaboration, while retaining commercial rights to the program in India.

Tom Hudson, Vice President of Drug Discovery at AbbVie, stated, “Lupin’s MALT1 program is exploring a novel approach to treating refractory cancers. AbbVie is committed to delivering advanced therapeutic solutions to patients. We look forward to collaborating with Lupin on this R&D initiative to bring new hope to patients.”

Dr. Raj Kamboj, President of New Drug Discovery and Development (NDDD) at Lupin, stated, “We are delighted that our NDDD program has successfully brought India’s first pharmaceutical innovation to this field. The MALT1 project is a first-in-class drug discovery initiative, exclusively advanced by Lupin through all stages from discovery to development. We take pride in the Lupin team’s achievement of global standards in drug research, particularly in concept translation, strategic direction, and flawless execution.”

It is reported that AbbVie has successfully acquired three companies: Stemcentrx, Pharmacyclics, and ImmuVen. On April 28, 2016, it acquired Stemcentrx for $5.8 billion.

AbbVie is a global, research-based biopharmaceutical company that was spun off from Abbott in 2013. The company’s mission is to leverage its expertise, dedicated employees, and unique approach to innovation to develop and market advanced therapies for some of the world’s most complex and serious diseases.

According to statistics, as of 2013, AbbVie had approximately 21,000 employees worldwide and marketed its pharmaceutical products in more than 170 countries.

Lupin’s New Drug Discovery and Development (NDDD) team was established in 2010, with the vision of leveraging cutting-edge research to develop innovative therapies and bring them to global markets, thereby addressing unmet medical needs across multiple therapeutic areas. Currently, NDDD has built a highly differentiated and innovative pipeline of new chemical entities in the fields of oncology, immunology, and metabolic disorders.