AbbVie Terminates 11-Year Calico Partnership, Shifts Focus to Biologics and Genetic Therapies

AbbVie has announced the end of its long-standing collaboration with Alphabet's Calico Life Sciences, marking a significant shift in the pharmaceutical giant's research and development strategy. The termination of this 11-year partnership, which focused on age-related diseases, will result in the layoff of approximately 100 chemists and a reallocation of resources towards biologics and genetic therapies.

Partnership Dissolution and Strategic Pivot

The decision to end the collaboration comes after years of substantial investment, with AbbVie having contributed $1.75 billion to the partnership from 2013 to 2022. Despite this significant financial commitment, the collaboration has yielded limited success in bringing new therapies to market.

AbbVie's move reflects a broader strategic shift within the company. According to internal communications viewed by STAT News, the pharmaceutical firm plans to redirect its focus towards biologics, cell therapies, and RNA-based treatments. This pivot aligns with recent high-profile acquisitions and collaborations in these areas, including the $2.1 billion purchase of Capstan Therapeutics and its CAR-T assets.

Clinical Setbacks and Ongoing Projects

The partnership's most notable setback came in January 2025 when fosigotifator, a drug developed for amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), failed to show significant efficacy in the HEALEY ALS platform trial. This disappointment likely contributed to AbbVie's decision to reevaluate the collaboration.

Despite the overall termination, some projects initiated under the partnership remain active. ABBV-CLS-628, an anti-PAPP-A monoclonal antibody for autosomal dominant polycystic kidney disease, recently received FDA fast track designation and is currently in Phase II trials. The fate of this and other ongoing projects remains unclear following the collaboration's end.

Industry Implications and Future Outlook

The dissolution of this high-profile partnership raises questions about the future of aging-related disease research and the challenges of translating such work into effective therapies. It also highlights the evolving landscape of pharmaceutical R&D, with major players like AbbVie increasingly prioritizing cutting-edge biological and genetic approaches over traditional small molecule drug development.

As the industry continues to evolve, the termination of the AbbVie-Calico collaboration may signal a broader trend of pharmaceutical companies reassessing long-term research partnerships in favor of more targeted, potentially faster-to-market strategies in the realms of biologics and genetic medicine.