AbbVie Buys In On Morphic’s Oral Integrin Inhibitors, To Tune Of $100m

After years of industry unsuccessfully trying to find an oral version of the successful I.V. integrin inhibitors, Morphic has a prolific platform – and AbbVie is paying $100m up front for preclinical oral integrin inhibitors for fibrosis indications, potentially including NASH.

Agreement business handshake partnership deal as a solution strategy with a team coming together out of tangled twisted roads on to a bridge to find a common goal.

AbbVie Ventures’ interest in Morphic Therapeutic Inc. originally centered on the latter’s integrin alpha 4 beta 7 program targeting autoimmune indications such as Crohn’s disease and lupus, but now AbbVie Inc. is paying $100m up front for exclusive options to license candidates targeting TGF beta for fibrotic indications.

Morphic was founded in 2015 with a goal of succeeding in developing oral integrin inhibitors after years of clinical development failure by more established companies, including Merck & Co. Inc. and Roche. The Waltham, Mass.-based biotech announced Oct

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