ABL Bio And GSK Partner To Develop Innovative Treatments For Neurodegenerative Diseases

(RTTNews) - ABL Bio Inc. announced a worldwide licensing agreement enabling GSK to develop novel medicines for neurodegenerative diseases by utilizing ABL Bio's blood-brain barrier or BBB shuttle platform, Grabody-B.

The agreement focuses on creating various programs targeting innovative pathways through different therapeutic approaches. These include antibodies, polynucleotides, and oligonucleotides like siRNA and ASOs. The goal is to meet the critical medical needs of patients living with neurodegenerative diseases.

The blood-brain barrier (BBB) serves as a protective barrier that restricts the entry of harmful substances and agents into the brain and is considered a significant obstacle in the development of treatments for neurological diseases.

ABL Bio's Grabody-B was developed to overcome the limitations of existing drugs that have difficulty crossing the BBB by targeting the Insulin-like Growth Factor 1 Receptor (IGF1R), facilitating drug penetration across the BBB and enabling efficient delivery into the brain.

Under the terms of the agreement, ABL Bio will receive up to 77.1 million pounds in upfront and near-term payments, including an immediate upfront payment of 38.5 million pounds, research milestones and potential program expansion. In total, ABL Bio is eligible to receive up to 2.075 billion pounds in research, development, regulatory and commercialization milestone payments across multiple potential programs. ABL Bio will receive tiered royalties on net sales if products are successfully commercialized.

As part of the agreement, ABL Bio will transfer Grabody-B-related technology and know-how to GSK, while GSK will assume responsibility for preclinical and clinical development, manufacturing, and commercialization.