Pharma BD Deal Intelligence

AbbVie Inc. / argenx SE

2016 · Co-Development · $685M · Complete

WRONG BY 39 POINTS

Not an acquisition at all — a small $685M option/license deal for one preclinical antibody, and the asset it bought (livmoniplimab) has since flopped in the clinic while argenx itself became an independent ~$40B blockbuster company AbbVie never owned.

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The coverage arc

Apr 21, 2016 AbbVie Inc. Form 8-K Exhibit 99.1 Neutral

AbbVie and argenx announced a collaboration to develop and commercialize ARGX-115, a novel therapeutic candidate targeting GARP, providing argenx an upfront…

Apr 26, 2018 argenx (option exercise update) Bullish

AbbVie exercised its exclusive option to license ARGX-115 following completion of IND-enabling studies, validating the 2016 collaboration and triggering…

Sep 15, 2024 ApexOnco (Oncology Pipeline) Bearish

Analysts characterized AbbVie's Phase 3 acceleration of livmoniplimab as 'on a wing and a prayer' given monotherapy zero responses and 12% combination ORR,…

Source summaries from our enrichment pipeline; follow links for originals.

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AbbVie and argenx entered a collaboration for ARGX-115 (ABBV-151), a preclinical anti-GARP cancer immunotherapy. AbbVie paid $40M upfront plus up to $20M near-term preclinical milestones. argenx eligible for up to $625M in additional development, regulatory, and commercial milestones plus tiered double-digit royalties. AbbVie also received option to license additional immune checkpoint targets.

Did it work? Outcome assessment

Not an acquisition at all — a small $685M option/license deal for one preclinical antibody, and the asset it bought (livmoniplimab) has since flopped in the clinic while argenx itself became an independent ~$40B blockbuster company AbbVie never owned.

Strategic verdict
Failed to Achieve

Key facts

Related deals — scored

DealYearValueOutcome
AbbVie Inc. / argenx SE (this deal)2016$685M25
AbbVie Inc. / Boehringer Ingelheim GmbH2016$2.2B95
AbbVie Inc. / Genmab A/S2020$3.9B81
AbbVie Inc. / Pharmacyclics Inc.2015$21.0B79
AbbVie Inc. / Apogee Therapeutics, Inc.2026$10.9B72
AbbVie Inc. / ImmunoGen Inc.2023$10.1B69
AbbVie Inc. / Gilgamesh Pharmaceuticals Inc.2024$2.0B64

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