AbbVie and Principia Announce Collaboration on Oral Immunoproteasome Inhibitors

NORTH CHICAGO, Ill. and SOUTH SAN FRANCISCO, Calif., June 13, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- AbbVie ABBV, a global biopharmaceutical company, and Principia Biopharma Inc., a private, clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company, announced today that they have entered a collaboration for the development of oral immunoproteasome inhibitors.  The collaboration is aimed at developing first-in-class oral therapies that bring the power of proteasome inhibition safely into the field of immunology. 

"Principia has discovered a novel technology that has the potential to enhance the treatment landscape for a variety of immunological diseases," said Lisa Olson, vice president, immunology research, AbbVie. "The combination of AbbVie's world-class expertise in immunology drug development with Principia's innovative approach to immunoproteasome inhibitors may offer patients a new class of therapies to treat serious and chronic conditions." 

"As a world leader in immunology and inflammation, AbbVie is an ideal fit for Principia's reversible covalent inhibitors, also known as Tailored Covalency™," said Martin Babler, chief executive officer, Principia. "This collaboration brings together the best of both companies, accelerating our program toward the clinic."

The collaboration contemplates the creation and development of orally bioavailable, selective inhibitors of the immunoproteasome subunits to target autoimmunity.  AbbVie and Principia will collaborate on research and pre-clinical studies.  Upon successful completion, AbbVie will be responsible for ongoing clinical development and commercialization of viable compounds resulting from the partnership.  Financial terms were not disclosed.

About the Immunoproteasome
The immunoproteasome is a distinct class of the proteasome, abundant in immune cells. The immunoproteasome comprises multiple proteolytic subunits with specialized roles in the processing of proteins for immune system recognition. The immunoproteasome plays a unique role in immune responses, with effects on antigen presentation, T cell function and cytokine production. Selective immunoproteasome subunits can be selectively inhibited, showing therapeutic activity in preclinical autoimmune and inflammatory studies.

About AbbVie
AbbVie is a global, research-driven biopharmaceutical company committed to developing innovative advanced therapies for some of the world's most complex and critical conditions. The company's mission is to use its expertise, dedicated people and unique approach to innovation to markedly improve treatments across four primary therapeutic areas: immunology, oncology, virology and neuroscience.  In more than 75 countries, AbbVie employees are working every day to advance health solutions for people around the world. For more information about AbbVie, please visit us at www.abbvie.com. Follow @abbvie on Twitter, Facebook or LinkedIn.

About Principia Biopharma
Principia Biopharma Inc., a private clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company, has created a revolutionary new way to design and develop oral small molecule therapies that are more potent, selective, durable and safer than currently available drugs.  The Company has utilized its proprietary Tailored Covalency™ technology to develop a portfolio of drug candidates that exhibit antibody-like specificity to benefit patients with autoimmune and inflammatory diseases and cancer.  PRN1008, a reversible covalent BTK inhibitor, is currently being evaluated in a Phase 2 clinical trial in patients with pemphigus vulgaris, an orphan autoimmune disease affecting skin and mucous membranes.  PRN1371, a covalent FGFR1-4 inhibitor, is currently being evaluated in a Phase 1 clinical trial in cancer patients with various solid tumors.  PRN2246, a low dose covalent BTK inhibitor which crosses the blood brain barrier, has successfully completed IND enabling studies.  For more information, please visit the Company's website at www.principiabio.com.

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SOURCE AbbVie