AbbVie bets $10 billion on ImmunoGen to boost its oncology portfolio

Shares of US antibody-drug conjugate (ADC) specialist ImmunoGen (Nasdaq: IMGN) shot up more that 83% to $29.46 pre-market today, on the news of a definitive agreement to be acquired by pharma major AbbVie (NYSE: ABBV).

The attraction for AbbVie is ImmunoGen’s flagship cancer therapy Elahere (mirvetuximab soravtansine-gynx), a first-in-class ADC approved for platinum-resistant ovarian cancer (PROC). The acquisition accelerates AbbVie's commercial and clinical presence in the solid tumor space. Additionally, ImmunoGen's follow-on pipeline of promising next-generation ADCs further complements AbbVie's ADC platform and existing programs.

The ADC market has attracted huge interest, for example Pfizer’s (NYSE: PFE) $43 billion acquisition of Seagen, as well as dozens of licensing deals. The sector was valued at $4 billion in 2021 and is forecast to rise to $13.13 billion by 2030, delivering a compund annual growth rate over 2021-2030 of 14.12%.