Shares of AC Immune SA (NASDAQ:ACIU) rose 13.9% on Tuesday after the company announced an amendment to its license and collaboration agreement with Eli Lilly and Company focused on Tau aggregation inhibitor small molecules for Alzheimer’s disease and other neurodegenerative conditions.
The updated terms build on a partnership that began in 2018 and focus on the companies' Morphomer Tau candidates. Under the amended agreement, AC Immune will receive a CHF10 million upfront payment and an additional milestone payment tied to Phase 1 dosing. The company remains eligible to collect development, regulatory and commercial milestone payments that exceed CHF1.7 billion, as well as tiered royalty payments in the low double digits.
AC Immune said the Morphomer Tau candidates were chosen because of their ability to enter the brain after oral dosing and their specific binding to the pathological conformation of the Tau protein targeted by the collaboration. The company indicated it expects to start Investigational New Drug-enabling studies in the first half of 2026.
Andrea Pfeifer, AC Immune's CEO, characterized the progress as evidence of breakthroughs with Morphomer small molecules directed at intracellular Tau. She said scientific evidence increasingly supports the idea that targeting intracellular Tau has the potential to slow or halt the underlying pathology.
Market analysts reacted to the amended deal. Marc Goodman of Leerink Partners kept an Outperform rating and a $9.00 price target on AC Immune, noting that the amendment serves as validation of the company's Morphomer small molecule platform. Goodman emphasized that the platform's oral administration and potential cost advantages would differentiate it from other modalities being developed to target Tau.
The revised collaboration maintains the companies' shared focus on developing orally bioavailable small molecules that specifically bind pathological Tau, while preserving significant upside through milestone and royalty arrangements. AC Immune's stated near-term operational goal under the amended agreement is to initiate IND-enabling studies during the first half of 2026.
Context and market impact - The announcement prompted a notable intraday rise in AC Immune's stock price, reflecting investor response to the upfront payment, continued milestone potential, and the platform validation signaled by Lilly's amended commitment.