AC Immune SA (NASDAQ:ACIU) said it has amended its 2018 licensing and collaboration agreement with Eli Lilly and Company (NYSE:LLY) focused on developing small-molecule tau aggregation inhibitors for Alzheimer’s disease and other neurodegenerative disorders.
As part of the revised terms, AC Immune will receive an upfront payment of CHF10 million and an additional milestone payment when Phase 1 clinical dosing begins. The company remains eligible for development, regulatory and commercial milestone payments totaling more than CHF1.7 billion, along with tiered royalties in the low double-digit range.
The partnership will concentrate on advancing new lead tau Morphomer candidates and potential backup molecules. AC Immune said it intends to begin Investigational New Drug (IND)-enabling studies during the first half of 2026.
According to the company, the Morphomer tau compounds were chosen for their ability to cross the blood-brain barrier when taken orally and for their capacity to bind to disease-related tau protein conformations. Preclinical data suggest the molecules may help inhibit tau aggregation and seeding across different stages of disease progression.
“The progress in this collaboration highlights the important breakthroughs we have made with Morphomer small molecules for intracellular targeting of Tau,” said Dr. Andrea Pfeifer, CEO of AC Immune.
AC Immune is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company developing precision therapies for neurodegenerative diseases. Its technology platforms include SupraAntigen and Morphomer, with drug candidates currently advancing through Phase 2 and Phase 3 clinical trials.