AbbVie Terminates $3.5 Billion Calico Partnership After 11 Years, Cuts 100 Jobs
核心洞察
AbbVie (搜索) has ended its multibillion-dollar partnership with Alphabet (搜索)-backed Calico Life Sciences (搜索) after more than 11 years of collaboration on age-related disease treatments.
The termination follows disappointing clinical results, including the failure of fosigotifator in ALS trials and limited regulatory approvals despite $1.75 billion in investment.
Approximately 100 chemists will lose their jobs as AbbVie (搜索) shifts strategy away from small-molecule drugs toward biologics and genetic medicines.
AbbVie (搜索) has terminated its long-standing partnership with Alphabet (搜索)-backed Calico Life Sciences (搜索) after more than a decade of collaboration, marking the end of one of the pharmaceutical industry's most ambitious aging research alliances. The decision will result in approximately 100 job cuts as the company redirects resources toward biologics and genetic medicine programs.
Partnership Background and Investment
The collaboration began in September 2014, just one year after Calico's launch by Google (搜索), with both companies initially committing $250 million each to develop treatments for age-related diseases, including neurodegenerative disorders (搜索) and cancer (搜索). The partnership was subsequently expanded twice - first in 2018 with an additional $500 million from each partner, and again in 2021, bringing the total potential value to $3.5 billion.
Under the amended 2018 agreement, which was set to run through 2027, Calico was responsible for conducting research and early development until 2022 and advancing programs through Phase IIa trials until 2030. AbbVie (搜索) maintained an option to take select programs into late-stage development and lead commercial activities. According to AbbVie's 2024 annual report, the company invested approximately $1.75 billion in the Calico collaboration from 2013 to 2022.
Clinical Setbacks Drive Strategic Shift
Despite the substantial investment, the partnership has struggled to deliver meaningful clinical successes. In January 2024, one of their lead assets, fosigotifator (ABBV-CLS-7262), an eIF2B (搜索) activator for amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (搜索) (ALS), failed to demonstrate significant impact on disease progression in the HEALEY ALS Platform Trial. The study found no evidence of efficacy on ALS disease progression as well as secondary measures including ALS symptoms, respiratory function, and quality-of-life scores.
According to internal emails viewed by STAT News, AbbVie (搜索)'s decision reflects a broader strategic shift away from small-molecule drugs toward more complex genetic medicines. The termination comes despite recent positive developments, including the FDA's orphan drug designation and fast-track status awarded to ABBV-CLS-628, an anti-PAPP-A (搜索) monoclonal antibody in Phase II testing for autosomal dominant polycystic kidney disease (搜索) (ADPKD).
Workforce Impact and Resource Reallocation
The partnership's end will affect approximately 100 chemists who will lose their positions. AbbVie (搜索) plans to redirect the resources previously allocated to the Calico collaboration toward funding its biologics and cell and RNA therapy programs, reflecting the company's evolving research priorities.
The close working relationship between the companies was evident as recently as last month, when Calico appointed Philip Kym, AbbVie (搜索)'s former head of global medicinal chemistry, to the newly created role of head of drug discovery.
Remaining Pipeline Assets
The partnership's pipeline includes other programs still in development, such as ABBV-CLS-484, a PTN1/2 (搜索) inhibitor in early-stage clinical testing as a potential cancer (搜索) immunotherapy. However, the future of these programs remains unclear following the partnership's termination.
Broader Industry Context
The Calico separation occurs amid AbbVie (搜索)'s aggressive acquisition strategy in 2024, with the company completing several high-profile deals exceeding $1 billion. In June, AbbVie acquired Capstan Therapeutics (搜索) for $2.1 billion to access CAR-T assets including CPTX2309, an in vivo edited therapy for B cell-mediated autoimmune diseases. The company also committed $700 million upfront to Ichnos Glenmark Innovation (搜索) for antibody ISB 2001 in multiple myeloma (搜索), with potential total payments reaching $1.925 billion.
Calico's recent decision to in-license an antibody-based IL-11 inhibitor (9MW3811) for fibrotic diseases (搜索) from China's Mabwell Bioscience (搜索), rather than relying on internal discovery capabilities, has been viewed by some industry observers as indicative of challenges within the biotech's research engine.