From UM Labs to Abivax: The Remarkable Journey of the Drug That Sought to Conquer Chronic Intestinal Diseases
The result of some twenty years of research, obefazimod could enter the pharmaceutical market within the next two years. Conceived by a researcher at the University of Montpellier and developed by the company Abivax, this anti-inflammatory treatment could provide relief to tens of millions of patients suffering from chronic intestinal diseases. A national and international success story, born from the synergy between Montpellier-based research and an innovative company.
Professor Jamal Tazi has been developing this method since 2002. Nearly 20 years and a dozen patents later, he sees the fruits of his research on the verge of resolving a major therapeutic impasse for nearly 40 million patients affected by ulcerative colitis across the Western world.
When the project began, Jamal Tazi was a professor at the University of Montpellier, and he set out to identify molecules capable of modulating splicing. The idea was to influence this essential cellular process of messenger RNA maturation, whose abnormalities are responsible for many human diseases (such as muscular dystrophy or progeria, for example). “At the time, no molecule existed that could influence this process, and government support was crucial: it was the first time a national program had encouraged collaboration between biologists and chemists,” he recalls.
This interdisciplinary approach, conducted in partnership with the Institut Curie, led to the isolation in 2004 of the first molecules capable of correcting splicing. A world first… But their usefulness in treating patients still had to be demonstrated. So the team quickly turned its attention to the HIV virus, which hijacks the splicing machinery to replicate itself. This work gave rise to the company Splicos (2009–2014), followed by Abivax ( founded in 2014), both funded by Truffle Capital and emerging from a public-private cooperative laboratory involving the Montpellier Institute of Molecular Genetics (IGMM), the Institut Curie, and the University of Montpellier. “We had to synthesize and test more than forty new molecules per month,” recalls the researcher.
Spectacular results
In 2014, they finally discovered “the holy grail.” Dubbed SPL464, then renamed ABX464, the famous molecule had a proven effect on the HIV virus. But in this field, the market was already saturated. Jamal Tazi therefore decided to refocus his work on chronic inflammatory bowel diseases. In 2018, the results of the first clinical trials conducted on patients with ulcerative colitis (UC) were spectacular. “One of the first patients treated was scheduled to undergo a colon resection; four years later, he is still in complete remission,” adds the researcher, winner of the CNRS Innovation Medal in 2017 and currently a finalist in the official selection for the prestigious Galien Prize.
Supported by the CNRS’s Partnership and Commercialization Division and as a founding member of the University Innovation Cluster, the project is “a fine example of a successful public-private partnership, ” summarizes Etienne Schwob, director of the IGMM. “Until 2021, as part of our cooperative laboratory, 50% of the staff was funded by the CNRS, and 50% by Abivax, amounting to 15 to 20 people depending on the period. Within our walls, the IGMM provided not only its facilities but also its instruments and scientific expertise. It is this combination that made the treatment a success,” explains the director.
Published last July, the results of the Phase 3 clinical trials confirm the drug’s efficacy. Administered at a dose of 50 mg once daily, the treatment—known as obefazimod—achieved clinical remission in 16.4% of patients as early as the eighth week. That very evening, the announcement sent the markets into a frenzy, and Abivax raised over $750 million in the United States in just a few hours—nearly €600 million. A historic achievement in the world of French biotechnology.
Now in the“maintenance”phase, the well-known drug could be on the market by 2027. It could then find new applications, particularly for patients with Crohn’s disease.