On Monday, biopharmaceutical giant AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) agreed to acquire Apogee Therapeutics Inc. (NASDAQ:APGE) in a cash deal valued at approximately $10.9 billion.
The deal comes as the largest after AbbVie acquired Botox maker Allergan for a massive $63 billion.
In 2023, AbbVie acquired cancer drug-focused ImmunoGen for $10.1 billion, and Cerevel Therapeutics (neurological diseases) for approximately $8.7 billion.
Zumilokibart Fits AbbVie’s Immunology Strategy
William Blair on Monday wrote, “While we do consider the nearly $11 billion price tag for an asset that will not be accretive until 2032 to be fairly expensive, the lead asset zumilokibart clearly fits within a therapeutic area where AbbVie has had commercial success for over a decade and offers the potential to further expand the company’s I&I pipeline into respiratory indications.”
Analyst Matt Phipps further added that the timing of the acquisition allows AbbVie to meaningfully expand and accelerate the Phase 3
development of zumilokibart and reduce future potential royalties to Blackstone Life Sciences, and therefore, the move justifies the near-term dilution.
Zumilokibart Data Highlights Potential Blockbuster Opportunity
AbbVie highlighted that the EASI100 rate achieved with zumilokibart was high (16.5% with zumilokibart versus 3.4% with placebo), nearly approaching Rinvoq-like efficacy (EASI100 rate of 14.8% at week 16).
The mega-blockbuster potential of zumilokibart ensures the company’s I&I franchise continues to see robust growth throughout the 2030s, with longer-term upside coming from fixed-dose combinations, including with the TSLP antibody APG33.
The deal highlights investors’ confidence in the long-term outlook for the company, and hence, William Blair reiterated an Outperform rating.
In January, Apogee shared interim data from the Phase 1b trial of zumilokibart in patients with mild-to-moderate asthma.
Robust and durable suppression of FeNO, a biomarker of Type 2 inflammation that has shown the strongest correlation with exacerbations in asthma, following a single dose.
ABBV Price Action: AbbVie shares were up 2.12% at $234.88 at the time of publication on Tuesday, according to Benzinga Pro data.
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