Abbvie Seeks To Expand Psychiatry Pipeline By Acquiring Gilgamesh's Lead Candidate For Up To $1.2B

2025-08-25 03:19:12

(MENAFN- AsiaNet News)

AbbVie (ABBV) on Monday announced that it will acquire Gilgamesh Pharmaceuticals Inc.'s lead investigational candidate Bretisilocin, which is currently in clinical development for treating patients with moderate-to-severe major depressive disorder (MDD).

Under the deal, AbbVie will acquire Gilgamesh's Bretisilocin program for up to $1.2 billion. This is inclusive of an upfront payment and development milestones, the company said.

Bretisilocin is a novel, psychedelic compound. While psychedelic compounds can act as potential treatments for mental health disorders because of their rapid, robust, and durable antidepressant effects, they are also hampered by the long duration of psychoactive experience, AbbVie said.

Bretisilocin has been shown to exert a shorter duration of psychoactive experience, while retaining an extended therapeutic benefit, the company added.

On Stocktwits, retail sentiment around ABBV stock stayed within the 'bullish' territory over the past 24 hours, while message volume stayed at 'low' levels.

In May, Gilgamesh Pharmaceuticals said that the investigational drug demonstrated a clinically impactful and statistically significant reduction in the severity of depressive symptoms as compared to a low-dose active comparator in a mid-stage study. Bretisilocin was further well tolerated with no serious adverse events, it added

Roopal Thakkar, chief scientific officer at AbbVie, said that the company looks forward to advancing Bretisilocin to late-stage clinical development.

Gilgamesh will also spin off a new entity that will operate under the name Gilgamesh Pharma Inc. to hold its employees and other programs, including the company's existing collaboration with AbbVie under the terms of the agreement, AbbVie said. The transaction is subject to customary closing conditions.

ABBV stock is up by 18% this year and by about 6% over the past 12 months.

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