AbbVie Joins Obesity Treatment Market With Up to $2.2B Licensing Deal

Key Takeaways

AbbVie ( ABBV ) has agreed to license a weight-loss drug currently in development from Danish biotech firm Gubra for up to about $2.2 billion, signaling its entry in the obesity treatment market.

Abbvie will pay $350 million up front and as much as $1.875 billion during development and commercialization of the drug, GUB014295, which is currently in a Phase 1 clinical trial .

The drug could give AbbVie an answer to weight-loss treatments from Eli Lilly ( LLY ) and Novo Nordisk ( NVO ), which have dominated a market that serves the 40% of U.S. adults with obesity. Goldman Sachs analysts estimated last year that the market for weight-loss drugs could reach $130 billion by 2030.

Gubra's drug, also known as GUBamy, acts as an analog of the hormone amylin, which has been identified as a potential therapeutic target for treating obesity, the company said. That's different from drugs such as Novo Nordisk's Ozempic or Lilly's Zepbound , which involve the hormone GLP-1.

Shares of AbbVie gained more than 1% intraday Monday and are up nearly 20% since the start of the year.

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