Key insights
- AC Immune amended its collaboration with Eli Lilly to develop tau aggregation inhibitors for Alzheimer's, receiving CHF10M upfront. ACIU plans IND-enabling studies in 1H 2026. While the news is positive for ACIU, its market cap is small and the direct impact on US equities is limited to sentiment in the biotech sector. Analysts forecast strong revenue growth for ACIU in 2026.
LAUSANNE, Switzerland - AC Immune SA (NASDAQ:ACIU) announced today an amendment to its 2018 license and collaboration agreement with Eli Lilly and Company for developing tau aggregation inhibitor small molecules targeting Alzheimer’s disease and other neurodegenerative diseases, according to a press release statement.
The amended agreement extends the research collaboration to include development of new lead tau Morphomer candidates and potential back-up compounds. AC Immune stated it expects to initiate Investigational New Drug-enabling studies in the first half of 2026.
Under the amendment terms, AC Immune will receive a CHF10 million upfront payment and an additional milestone payment upon Phase 1 dosing. The company remains eligible for development, regulatory and commercial milestones exceeding CHF1.7 billion, plus tiered royalty payments in the low double digits, as previously disclosed.The upfront payment comes as the company maintains a solid balance sheet with more cash than debt, though InvestingPro data shows AC Immune is quickly burning through cash with a market capitalization of $268 million. The stock has delivered a strong 70% return over the past year, and analysts forecast revenue growth of 177% in fiscal 2026. InvestingPro offers 7 additional key tips for ACIU investors.
The Morphomer tau candidates were selected for their ability to enter the brain when administered orally and for their binding to pathological conformations of the tau protein. AC Immune reported preclinical data suggesting the compounds may inhibit aggregation and seeding across pathological and disease stages.
"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 SA.
The collaboration continues a partnership established in 2018 between the Swiss clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company and the pharmaceutical manufacturer. AC Immune develops precision therapeutics for neurodegenerative diseases using its SupraAntigen and Morphomer technology platforms.
The company’s pipeline includes therapeutic and diagnostic programs with candidates in Phase 2 and Phase 3 development.
In other recent news, AC Immune SA presented Phase 1 data showcasing the first in vivo images of TDP-43 pathology in human brains using its PET tracer ACI-19626. The initial data indicated significantly higher tracer uptake in key brain regions of patients with frontotemporal dementia caused by mutated C9orf72 compared to healthy subjects. Additionally, Jefferies reiterated a Buy rating for AC Immune, maintaining a $7.00 price target. The firm highlighted that the focus remains on first-half 2026 PET clearance data for the Alzheimer’s vaccine ACI-24, which could influence a Takeda opt-in decision.
In another development, AC Immune announced the initiation of a Phase 1 clinical trial for ACI-19764, an oral small molecule inhibitor targeting the NLRP3 inflammasome. This inflammasome is linked to chronic inflammation in conditions such as Alzheimer’s disease and Parkinson’s disease. These recent advancements underscore AC Immune’s ongoing efforts in the field of neurodegenerative diseases.
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