Overview
- Multiple outlets report that AbbVie is in advanced talks to buy Apogee for roughly $10.9 billion in cash and that a formal announcement could come Monday, June 22 if negotiations conclude.
- The proposed price values Apogee at about a 60% premium to its June 18 close and would be AbbVie’s largest deal since its 2019 Allergan purchase.
- Apogee has no approved products and its lead candidate, zumilokibart, targets the inflammatory protein IL-13 with trial data showing efficacy may be maintained with dosing as infrequent as twice a year.
- Analysts including JPMorgan called the match a strategic fit for AbbVie’s immunology business while warning the deal pays for future potential rather than proven sales, and markets moved with ABBV shares dipping and APGE shares rising on the reports.
- The move would accelerate AbbVie’s effort to refill growth lost as Humira faces biosimilar pressure, rely on Apogee’s Phase 3 program funded partially by Blackstone Life Sciences, and leave the company exposed to the clinical and valuation risks of an unproven asset.