RA Capital Management has announced the completion of AbbVie's $1.4 billion acquisition of Aliada Therapeutics, a portfolio company founded and supported by RA Capital’s healthcare incubator, Raven.
The deal marks the second major acquisition of a Raven-backed company this year, following Novartis’ $1 billion purchase of Mariana Oncology in May.
Aliada’s lead asset, ALIA-1758, is an investigational anti-pyroglutamate amyloid beta (3pE-Aβ) antibody targeting Alzheimer’s disease. The drug leverages a proprietary blood-brain barrier-crossing technology designed to enhance central nervous system drug delivery. ALIA-1758 is currently undergoing a Phase 1 clinical trial.
Aliada was cofounded in 2021 by Johnson & Johnson Innovation – JJDC, RA Capital, and Raven. The startup was established to advance the MODEL platform, a Johnson & Johnson technology licensed to Aliada at its inception.
RA Capital, based in Boston, is an investment manager founded in 2004. It has over $10 billion in assets and specializes in public and private healthcare, life sciences, and planetary health companies. Its incubator, Raven, focuses on creating and supporting innovative ventures across therapeutics, diagnostics, devices, and services.
Laura Tadvalkar, managing director at RA Capital and former board chair of Aliada, emphasized the potential impact of ALIA-1758’s platform. “Delivering therapeutics across the blood-brain barrier with a low-volume, subcutaneous injection would be revolutionary for treating Alzheimer’s disease and other neurological disorders,” she said.
