AbbVie and Ablynx agree inflammatory disease alliance

AbbVie is to collaborate with fellow healthcare company Ablynx on the development and commercialisation of a promising new inflammatory disease therapy.

The target of the collaboration will be ALX-0061, a proprietary anti-IL-6R nanobody from Ablynx that could potentially be developed as a means of treating rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE).

Ablynx successfully completed a phase IIa study of the drug in February 2013 that demonstrated its strong efficacy and safety performance among RA patients, with the firm now pressing ahead with the completion of phase II development.

Should this prove successful, AbbVie will take charge of phase III testing and commercialisation of the product, with Ablynx receiving an upfront fee, funding support, milestone payments and royalties.

Dr Scott Brun, vice-president of pharmaceutical development at AbbVie, said: "We are looking forward to working with Ablynx to develop a potentially new and effective therapy for patients suffering from serious chronic conditions such as RA and SLE."

AbbVie has experienced strong growth thus far in 2013, its first year as an independent business following its spin-off from Abbott at the beginning of the year.