AbbVie to Buy Apogee Therapeutics for $10.9 Billion in Cash — Update

By Colin Kellaher

AbbVie has agreed to buy Apogee Therapeutics for about $10.9 billion in cash in a deal that bolsters the biopharmaceutical company's immunology and inflammation portfolio.

AbbVie on Monday said it will pay $135.11 a share in cash, a 49% premium to Thursday's closing price of $90.38 for the Waltham, Mass., clinical-stage biotechnology company.

Apogee shares were recently up nearly 48% to $133.40 in premarket trading.

For AbbVie, the deal would add Apogee's experimental drug zumilokibart, which is entering Phase 3 studies late this year, as a potential rival to Dupixent from Regeneron Pharmaceuticals and Sanofi as a treatment for moderate to severe atopic dermatitis, the most common form of eczema.

AbbVie's blockbuster drug Rinvoq is approved for use in several autoimmune diseases, including eczema. The North Chicago, Ill., company has said it expects combined revenue from Rinvoq and fellow autoimmune drug Skyrizi will top $31 billion this year.

AbbVie said it plans to fund the acquisition, which is slated to close in the third quarter, with debt, adding that the deal carries an implied value of about $10.1 billion net of Apogee's cash and marketable securities.

Analysts at Citi said the premium AbbVie is paying for Apogee doesn't seem excessive given zumilokibart's Phase 2 profile, a scarcity of high-quality immunology and inflammation assets, and Apogee's strengthened standalone position after its recent $1.3 billion financing collaboration with Blackstone.

Citi noted that the acquisition is a sizable but logical bolt-on that remains in AbbVie's immunology lane rather than marking a "strategic corner turned" moment, and that another deal may still be needed to broaden the company's narrative.

AbbVie said it remains committed to paying a strong and growing dividend, and that it still has financial flexibility for additional business development.

The company said it expects the deal will cut adjusted per-share earnings by about 14 cents this year and roughly 46 cents in 2027, and that it will begin to add to earnings in 2032.

AbbVie said Apogee's pipeline assets represent mega-blockbuster collective peak sales potential, with zumilokibart in atopic dermatitis representing the most substantial component of the deal value.

Write to Colin Kellaher at colin.kellaher@wsj.com

Corrections & Amplifications

This article was corrected at 8:39 a.m. ET because the original version incorrectly said zumilokibart is currently in Phase 3 studies. It enters phase 3 studies late this year.

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

June 22, 2026 08:13 ET (12:13 GMT)