AbbVie (NYSE: ABBV) has announced its agreement to acquire Cerevel Therapeutics (NASDAQ: CERE) for approximately $8.7 billion, with the transaction expected to close in mid-2024, pending customary conditions. This acquisition is set to enhance AbbVie’s neuroscience portfolio by incorporating Cerevel’s promising drug candidates, which boast multibillion-dollar sales potential across various indications, including Parkinson’s disease (PD), Alzheimer’s disease psychosis, epilepsy, schizophrenia, panic disorder, and other mood disorders.
Cerevel’s pipeline features several pre-clinical compounds and five clinical-stage programs. Notably, emraclidine, a potential best-in-class muscarinic M4 receptor agonist, is currently in Phase II trials for schizophrenia and shows promise for Alzheimer’s disease psychosis and PD. Additionally, Cerevel is advancing tavapadon, a first-in-class dopamine D1/D5 selective partial agonist in Phase III studies for early PD, along with CVL-354, a potential best-in-class kappa opioid receptor (KOR) antagonist in Phase I for major depressive disorder (MDD), and darigabat, a Phase II candidate targeting treatment-resistant epilepsy and panic disorder.- Flcube.com
