AbbVie (ABBV.US) invests 1.2 billion US dollars to acquire experimental antidepressant drugs from Gilgamesh.

AbbVie (ABBV.US) has agreed to acquire an experimental antidepressant treatment drug from Gilgamesh Pharmaceuticals for up to $1.2 billion. According to the terms of the agreement, AbbVie will acquire Gilgamesh's core candidate drug bretisilocin, which is being developed for the treatment of severe depression. At the same time, Gilgamesh will spin off its other research projects to form a new entity - Gilgamesh Pharma Inc. Both parties stated that the transaction is subject to customary closing conditions. AbbVie's Chief Scientific Officer Roopal Thakkar stated in a press release: "This acquisition emphasizes our commitment to expand and enhance mental health care through investing in novel treatment approaches that have the potential to benefit patients who do not respond to other treatments." Last month, it was reported that AbbVie was in talks to acquire Gilgamesh to strengthen its pipeline of treatments for mental health disorders. Previously, a drug for schizophrenia acquired by AbbVie failed in a mid-stage trial. This transaction comes over a year after AbbVie and Gilgamesh reached a collaboration agreement. At that time, the parties agreed to jointly develop next-generation psychedelics for mental health disorders. They stated that the "license option" provision in the collaboration agreement will remain in effect and will transfer to the newly formed Gilgamesh Pharma Inc. upon the spin-off of the Gilgamesh project. In the US and abroad, the use of psychedelics for the treatment of severe depression is gaining support. Statistics show that over 20 million adults in the US suffer from severe depression, with about 30% showing no response to existing treatments. Gilgamesh has been developing what is known as neuroplastogens - a new generation of psychedelics that are said to be fast-acting and do not induce hallucinations. In May of this year, the company announced positive results for its core candidate drug bretisilocin (also known as GM-2505) in studies on severe depression. BMO Capital Markets analyst Evan Seigerman pointed out in a report, "Historically, large pharmaceutical companies have been relatively cautious in exploring psychedelics, mainly due to potential regulatory concerns, making today's deal more significant."