Published by Global Banking and Finance Review
Posted on December 16, 2025
1 min readLast updated: January 20, 2026
ADEL partners with Sanofi in a $1.04 billion deal to develop an Alzheimer's drug, focusing on innovative tau acetylation targeting.
Dec 16 (Reuters) - South Korea-based ADEL said late on Monday that it has entered a $1.04 billion partnership with French drugmaker Sanofi to develop and sell the biotech company's experimental Alzheimer's disease treatment.
Under the terms of the agreement, ADEL will receive an upfront payment of $80 million, with additional milestone payments tied to development progress and commercial performance, as well as royalties on future sales.
Sanofi signed a separate deal with private biotech Dren Bio worth up to $1.7 billion on Monday to develop autoimmune disease therapies.
ADEL's drug candidate, ADEL-Y01, is an antibody therapy designed to block harmful forms of a protein linked to Alzheimer's disease. It is currently in early-stage human trials in the United States.
"ADEL's innovative approach to targeting tau acetylation offers a promising and differentiated mechanism for addressing the underlying causes of Alzheimer's disease," said Erik Wallstroem, global head, Multiple Sclerosis, Neurology and Gene Therapy Development at Sanofi.
(Reporting by Sahil Pandey in Bengaluru; Editing by Sherry Jacob-Phillips)
Alzheimer's disease is a progressive neurological disorder that causes brain cells to degenerate and die, leading to memory loss, cognitive decline, and changes in behavior.
A partnership in business refers to a formal arrangement where two or more parties agree to manage and operate a business together, sharing profits and responsibilities.
Milestone payments are payments made upon the completion of specific stages or achievements in a project, often used in contracts to ensure progress.
Royalties are payments made to the owner of a property or intellectual property for the right to use that property, often calculated as a percentage of sales or profits.
Explore more articles in the Headlines category
