AbbVie is ending an 11-year agreement with Alphabet’s Calico Labs, according to an internal email obtained by Stat.
Originally inking the accord back in 2014, the pair launched an R&D operation that cost up to $1.5 billion to start and later reupped the deal in both 2018 and 2021, with each partner putting half a billion dollars on the line for each renewal.
Now, the intensive project—which is focused on age-related diseases, including neurodegeneration—is coming to a close, with about 100 employees associated with the work set to receive pink slips, an anonymous source told Stat.
The changes come as North Chicago-based AbbVie pivots away from small molecules in favor of injectables and genetic medicines, according to the email cited by Stat.
“Over the course of the collaboration, AbbVie and Calico advanced 5 assets into clinical development in neuroscience and oncology,” a Calico spokesperson told Fierce in a written statement. “Currently, there are more than 20 early-stage programs.”
As of publication, AbbVie has not responded to Fierce’s request for comment.
Calico was founded by Google’s parent company Alphabet and Arthur Levinson, Ph.D., former Genentech CEO and current Apple chairman. The company aims to translate research about aging and age-related diseases into the development of new therapies.
From 2013 to 2022, AbbVie poured a total of $1.75 billion into the Calico collaboration, according to the pharma’s 2024 annual report.
Central to the partnership was fosigotifator, an amyotrophic lateral sclerosis asset designed to target eIF2B. At the start of this year, fosigotifator failed to significantly slow disease progression compared to placebo after 24 weeks in a phase 2/3 study.
Another elF2B candidate from Denali Therapeutics missed in the trial, as well.
AbbVie and Calico were also developing fosigotifator for major depressive disorder and vanishing white matter disease.
Additionally, the pair were working on an investigational monoclonal antibody dubbed ABBV-CLS-628. The therapy is designed to treat an inherited kidney condition called autosomal dominant polycystic kidney disease and received FDA fast track designation last month in the indication.
The asset is being studied in a phase 2 trial that launched this summer and is currently listed as “recruiting,” according to ClinicalTrials.gov. The trial’s information was last updated Nov. 4.
“We’re deeply appreciative of our partnership with AbbVie, which has played an important role in shaping Calico’s clinical development capabilities,” the Calico spokesperson said. “As we look ahead, we’ll continue advancing the development of many of these programs while expanding our internal development infrastructure to advance more programs independently, while also forming new collaborative partnerships to bring expertise and technologies to enhance our current capabilities.”
Less than a month ago, Calico tapped former AbbVie leader Philip Kym, Ph.D., to serve as head of drug discovery. Kym had just retired from his role as AbbVie’s vice president of global medicinal chemistry and had also been a part of the joint steering committee for the AbbVie-Calico collaboration.
The newly created role will see Kym guide the direction and management of Calico’s drug discovery programs, according to an Oct. 16 release.
“I look forward to continuing to advance programs I have been part of for many years and to leading the expansion of drug discovery initiatives in emerging areas of interest,” Kym said in the release.
Editor's note: This article was updated at 4 p.m. ET on Nov. 13 to include a statement from Calico.