Under the terms of the agreement, AbbVie will receive an exclusive global license to develop, manufacture and commercialize FG-M701, a humanized monoclonal antibody (mAb) targeting TL1A.

According to FutureGen, FG-M701 is engineered with functional characteristics compared to first-generation TL1A antibodies with the goal to drive greater efficacy and less frequent dosing as a therapy for IBD.

“The prevalence of IBD continues to increase, and many people living with ulcerative colitis and Crohn's disease do not respond to current therapies,” said Jonathon Sedgwick, senior vice president and global head of discovery research, AbbVie.

“AbbVie's mission to raise the standard of care includes the pursuit of transformative therapies that help more patients living with autoimmune diseases achieve remission. We look forward to our collaboration with FutureGen in advancing development of FG-M701 for the treatment of IBD.”

Moreover, FutureGen is due to receive $150 million in upfront and milestone payments, along with an additional $1.56 billion in clinical development, as well as tiered royalties on net sales.

“We are very pleased to partner with AbbVie, a world-leader in the development and commercialization of innovative inflammation and autoimmune therapies," said Zhaoyu Jin, CEO, FutureGen.

“We believe that AbbVie is a great partner, with the ability to apply their expertise and global scale to realizing FG-M701's therapeutic potential and rapidly advancing this therapy for patients suffering from IBD. The collaboration with AbbVie also highlights FutureGen's ability to generate product candidates with our proprietary Structure-based Targeted Evolution Platform (STEP) technology platform.”

The firms declined to comment when contacted by this publication.