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AbbVie has announced a deal in which the American pharmaceutical firm will acquire Aliada Therapeutics, a biotechnology firm with competence in the development of key Central Nervous System (CNS) therapies.

Aliada addresses drug delivery challenges in the CNS through leveraging its novel blood-brain barrier crossing technology.

AbbVie will be looking to further develop Aliada’s ALIA-1758, which is an anti-pyroglutamate amyloid beta (3pE-Aβ) antibody primed for treatment of Alzheimer's disease.

"This acquisition immediately positions us to advance ALIA-1758, a potentially best-in-class disease-modifying therapy for Alzheimer's disease. In addition, Aliada's novel BBB-crossing technology strengthens our R&D capabilities to accelerate the development of next-generation therapies for neurological disorders and other diseases where enhanced delivery of therapeutics into the CNS is beneficial," stated Roopal Thakkar, M.D. chief scientific officer, AbbVie.

Aliada's Modular Delivery (MODELTM) technology, designed for high-precision CNS drug delivery, is being used to advance therapeutic candidates.

The transferrin and CD98 receptors (TfR and CD98), which are abundantly expressed in brain endothelial cells, are the targets of the unique BBB-crossing technology.

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This approach is intended to transport various biological payloads, such as therapeutic antibodies and genetic medications like siRNA, into the brain by creating highly tailored TfR or CD98 binders.

"Many promising CNS-targeted therapies fail to reach late-stage trials due to their inability to cross the blood-brain barrier. Our MODELTM platform addresses this challenge directly, efficiently delivering targeted drugs and potentially transforming how we treat neurological diseases." Michael Ryan, M.D., chief medical officer at Aliada Therapeutics

In order to facilitate the breakdown and removal of amyloid beta plaques, a pathological characteristic of Alzheimer's disease, ALIA-1758 uses TfR to transport a 3pE-Aβ antibody across the blood-brain barrier.

Phase 1 clinical research is presently being conducted on this investigational candidate to evaluate its safety and tolerability in healthy subjects (NCT06406348).

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