AbbVie Expands siRNA Portfolio with $335M ADARx Deal, Highlighting Industry Shift Towards RNA Therapeutics

AbbVie has significantly bolstered its presence in the small interfering RNA (siRNA) therapeutics space, announcing a substantial collaboration with ADARx Pharmaceuticals. The deal, which includes a $335 million upfront payment, underscores the growing importance of RNA-based therapies in the pharmaceutical industry's pipeline.

AbbVie's Strategic Move into siRNA

The partnership between AbbVie and ADARx Pharmaceuticals spans multiple disease areas, with a particular focus on neuroscience, immunology, and oncology. This collaboration comes on the heels of AbbVie's $1.4 billion acquisition of Aliada Therapeutics in October 2024, further cementing the company's commitment to siRNA technology.

Jonathon Sedgwick, Ph.D., senior vice president and global head of discovery research at AbbVie, emphasized the potential of siRNA as a "promising genetic medicine approach for silencing disease-causing genes." However, he also acknowledged the remaining challenges in "targeting and delivering siRNA effectively."

ADARx's Technology and Pipeline

ADARx brings to the table its proprietary siRNA technology and RNA discovery expertise. The San Diego-based biotech has a pipeline of clinical-stage medicines targeting complement-mediated, cardiovascular, and thrombotic diseases. Their most advanced candidate, ADX-324, is approaching Phase III testing for hereditary angioedema.

Zhen Li, Ph.D., CEO and co-founder of ADARx, expressed enthusiasm about the partnership, stating that AbbVie's R&D capabilities and global commercial reach make it the "ideal strategic partner" to unlock the "tremendous clinical and commercial potential across multiple disease areas."

Industry-wide Shift Towards RNA Therapeutics

The AbbVie-ADARx deal is part of a broader trend in the pharmaceutical industry, with several major players making significant investments in RNA-based therapies. Recent developments include:

1. GSK's acquisition of Boston Pharmaceuticals' efimosfermin alfa, with plans to combine it with their siRNA therapy GSK'990.
2. Eli Lilly's announcement in March that its siRNA therapy lepodisiran reduced lipoprotein(a) levels by nearly 94% in patients at risk of cardiovascular events.
3. Boehringer Ingelheim's January 2024 deal worth up to $2 billion with Suzhou Ribo Life Science and Ribocure Pharmaceuticals for siRNA-based treatments targeting metabolic dysfunction-associated steatohepatitis.

These moves highlight the industry's growing confidence in the potential of RNA therapeutics to address a wide range of diseases, potentially offering long-lasting effects without the need for genome alterations and their associated long-term safety concerns.