Chiesi Group entered into an exclusive, worldwide, royalty‑bearing license agreement with Aliada Therapeutics, a wholly owned subsidiary of AbbVie, to develop and commercialize enzyme replacement therapies (ERTs) that use Aliada’s proprietary blood‑brain‑barrier (BBB)‑crossing platform for lysosomal storage disorders (LSDs). The deal, announced on November 12, 2025, gives Chiesi the sole right to pursue this technology across all markets, while Aliada receives an upfront payment, development and sales‑based milestone payments, and tiered royalties on future sales.
Under the terms, Chiesi will fund all research, development, and commercialization activities worldwide. Aliada’s MODEL™ platform, which harnesses endogenous transferrin and CD98 receptors to ferry large molecules into the brain, will be applied to a portfolio of ERTs aimed at LSDs that have central nervous system involvement—a therapeutic niche that has historically been difficult to treat due to the BBB’s restrictive nature. The license is royalty‑bearing, meaning Aliada will earn a percentage of sales, but the specific royalty rates and milestone thresholds remain undisclosed.
Strategically, the agreement aligns with Chiesi’s rare‑disease growth plan, which has seen its rare‑disease business unit contribute 22% of group sales in 2024 and grow 41% year‑over‑year. By adding a BBB‑penetrating platform, Chiesi can address unmet neurological symptoms in LSDs, a move that could differentiate its portfolio and drive future revenue. For AbbVie, the deal extends the value of its $1.4 billion acquisition of Aliada (closed December 11, 2024) beyond Alzheimer’s disease, reinforcing its broader diversification strategy away from the immunology core that has been pressured by biosimilar competition.
Aliada’s MODEL™ platform was originally developed to deliver an anti‑pyroglutamate amyloid beta antibody (ALIA‑1758) for Alzheimer’s disease. The same technology now underpins Chiesi’s ERT pipeline, illustrating how a single platform can be repurposed across multiple therapeutic areas. The partnership also signals AbbVie’s intent to monetize its neuroscience assets through licensing, creating a new revenue stream while allowing Chiesi to leverage AbbVie’s investment in the platform.
Management comments underscore the strategic intent: Giacomo Chiesi, Executive Vice President of Chiesi Global Rare Diseases, said the deal “underscores our commitment to creating solutions that target the significant unmet needs in managing cognitive and neurological symptoms across several rare diseases.” Mitch Goldman, Senior Vice President R&D, added that the partnership “opens the door to identifying therapeutic pathways for lysosomal storage disorders, supported by encouraging preclinical data.” Roopal Thakkar, Chief Scientific Officer at AbbVie, noted that the collaboration “strengthens our R&D capabilities to accelerate the development of next‑generation therapies for neurological disorders and other diseases where enhanced delivery into the CNS is beneficial.”
The licensing agreement positions both companies to tackle a critical unmet need in LSDs, potentially expanding AbbVie’s rare‑disease pipeline and reinforcing Chiesi’s rare‑disease growth trajectory. By combining Chiesi’s development expertise with Aliada’s BBB‑crossing technology, the partnership could accelerate the delivery of effective ERTs to patients with neurological manifestations of LSDs, a market that has long lacked effective CNS‑penetrant therapies.
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