AbbVie buys Landos for up to $212.5 million

US pharma major AbbVie (NYSE: ABBV) is to acquire Landos Biopharma (Nasdaq: LABP), news that sent the latter company’s share price rocketing by 165% during Monday afternoon’s trading.

Landos is a biopharma company focused on the development of novel, oral therapeutics for patients with autoimmune diseases. Its lead investigational asset is NX-13, a first-in-class, oral NLRX1 agonist with a bimodal mechanism of action (MOA), which is anti-inflammatory and facilitates epithelial repair.

"NX-13 and its bimodal MOA have the potential to provide a novel approach to the treatment of ulcerative colitis and Crohn's disease"Roopal Thakkar, senior vice president, chief medical officer, global therapeutics, AbbVie, said: “With this acquisition, we aim to advance the clinical development of NX-13, a differentiated, first-in-class, oral asset with the potential to make a difference in the lives of people living with ulcerative colitis and Crohn's disease.”