AbbVie completes acquisition of Capstan Therapeutics
North Chicago, Ill.: AbbVie has announced that it has completed its acquisition of Capstan Therapeutics. With the completion of the acquisition, Capstan is now a part of AbbVie.
Capstan's lead asset CPTX2309, currently in Phase 1 for the treatment of B cell-mediated autoimmune diseases, is a tLNP that generates CD19-specific, CD8+ in vivo CAR-T cells. The CAR-T cells are designed to achieve rapid and deep B cell depletion with the aim of achieving durable, drug-free remission. This can be accomplished without the need for lymphodepleting chemotherapy, while also avoiding other challenges associated with conventional ex vivo CAR-T therapies.
"With the acquisition now complete, we are excited to work together with the talented team at Capstan to advance our mission of transforming patient care," said Jonathon Sedgwick, Ph.D., senior vice president and global head of discovery research, AbbVie. "
"The addition of CPTX2309 and Capstan's tLNP platform strengthens our ability to deliver new treatments aimed at resetting the immune system and enables application of Capstan's proprietary technology more broadly for in vivo programming of cells," the release stated.
This move is the latest in a series of investments by AbbVie. In August, the company announced investment of USD 195 million in its North Chicago, Illinois manufacturing plant to expand domestic active pharmaceutical ingredient (API) production in the U.S.
In July, AbbVie also entered talks to acquire privately-held mental health therapeutics company Gilgamesh Pharmaceuticals in a deal worth about USD 1 billion. The U.S. drugmaker has spent over $20 billion on acquisitions since 2023 as its flagship rheumatoid arthritis treatment, Humira, lost patent protection.
Read also: AbbVie Eyes USD 1 Billion Buyout of Mental Health Drugmaker Gilgamesh
