AbbVie is betting $130 million on an early-phase neuroscience play. The upfront outlay has given AbbVie ownership of Syndesi Therapeutics, a UCB spinout that recently began phase 1b clinical trials of its lead candidate SDI-118 in cognitive decline and depression.
Syndesi broke free from UCB in 2018, going solo with SV2A modulators and the support of investors including Novo Seeds and Johnson & Johnson Innovation. UCB has enjoyed success in SV2A, the target of its anti-epileptic drugs Briviact and Keppra, but the discovery of molecules with distinct properties led it to spin out assets. The molecules licensed to Syndesi appeared to act on cognition but not epilepsy.
Over the past four years, Syndesi has built on the preclinical data generated by UCB, culminating in the initiation of two phase 1b clinical trials in September. One phase 1b trial is testing SDI-118 in participants in remission from depression. The other study is enrolling elderly adults with cognitive decline.
AbbVie has seen enough promise in the program to make a move for Syndesi. The deal sees AbbVie pay $130 million upfront and commit up to $870 million in milestones to acquire the biotech. Syndesi began life with a 17 million euro ($19 million) series A that was extended early last year, suggesting the AbbVie deal will deliver a tidy return to its investors.
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The outlay positions AbbVie at the forefront of a push to tackle neuropsychiatric and neurodegenerative disorders from a different angle. SV2A is a protein that regulates the release of neurotransmitters and, in doing so, plays a key role in synaptic transmission. As synaptic transmission is implicated in diseases such as Alzheimer’s, modulating SV2A may improve outcomes in patients with the conditions.
Targeting SV2A represents a novel approach to cognitive impairment. Researchers linked UCB’s Keppra to improved cognitive performance in a small trial of Alzheimer’s patients more than a decade ago, but the field has continued to focus on other targets, notably amyloid beta. AbbVie now has a shot at showing whether synaptic transmission is the key to addressing cognitive impairment.