AbbVie Inc. / Calico LLC

Aging-related diseases (neurodegeneration and oncology)

$360.0B US 2024 healthcare/long-term care/hospice spend on dementia (≥65)

Disease Overview

Aging biology covers a broad set of cellular and tissue degenerative processes that drive neurodegeneration (Alzheimer's, ALS, Parkinson's), age-related cancers, and frailty. Calico was founded by Alphabet in 2013 to apply deep-biology and computational approaches to longevity targets, an area defined by translational risk and long timelines rather than a single disease.

Competitive Landscape

The Calico-AbbVie alliance was unique—not a typical asset deal but a discovery-stage platform partnership pairing Alphabet's Bay Area longevity research engine with AbbVie's translational and commercial machinery. Comparable longevity-focused vehicles include Altos Labs (Bezos/Yuri Milner-backed cellular reprogramming, 2022), Unity Biotechnology (senolytics, IPO 2018), Insilico Medicine (AI-driven aging targets), and Retro Biosciences (OpenAI-linked). Within neurodegeneration the directly competing therapy class is anti-amyloid antibodies, where Eisai/Biogen's Leqembi (lecanemab, FDA-approved 2023) and Lilly's Kisunla (donanemab, FDA-approved 2024) now anchor the symptomatic Alzheimer's market—neither emerged from the Calico work. Over 11 years AbbVie funneled ~$1.75B into the alliance, generated 20+ early-stage programs, and advanced an ALS asset (fosigotifator) that failed in Phase 2; AbbVie ended the collaboration in November 2025 and laid off ~100 scientists, with Endpoints/FierceBiotech framing the wind-down as evidence that AbbVie is pivoting away from small-molecule discovery toward biologics and ADCs. The exit underscores how few longevity bets have produced approved drugs despite a decade of capital.