AC Immune stock price surges after revised collaboration agreement with Eli Lilly

LootboxPhobia · 2026-04-08T02:20:49+00:00

AC Immune SA's stock price surged 13.9% after revising its collaboration agreement with Eli Lilly on Tau inhibitors for Alzheimer's disease. Under the revised terms, AC Immune will receive upfront and milestone payments, with a new drug research application expected to be initiated in 2026. The CEO highlighted the groundbreaking progress of the Morphomer small molecules. Analysts maintain a "Outperform" rating, believing that this agreement validates the potential of AC Immune's small molecule platform.

LootboxPhobia

2026-04-08 02:20:49

Abstract generation in progress

Investing.com – AC Immune SA (NASDAQ:ACIU) shares surged 13.9% on Tuesday, after the company said it had amended its licensing and collaboration agreement with Eli Lilly for Tau aggregation inhibitor small molecules targeting Alzheimer’s disease and other neurodegenerative disorders.

The revised agreement builds on the two companies’ 2018 collaboration to develop the Morphomer Tau candidate drug. AC Immune will receive a $10 million Swiss franc upfront payment, as well as milestone payments following dosing in Phase 1. The company remains eligible for more than 1.7 billion Swiss francs in development, regulatory, and commercial milestone payments, plus tiered royalties in the high single-digit range.

AC Immune said it expects to submit research application materials related to the new drug’s development in the first half of 2026. The choice of Morphomer Tau candidates is due to their ability to enter the brain when administered orally, and to specifically bind to Tau protein’s targeted pathological conformations.

Chief Executive Officer Andrea Pfeifer said this progress highlights breakthroughs made by Morphomer small molecules in targeting Tau inside cells. She noted that an increasing body of scientific evidence suggests that targeting intracellular Tau can slow down or stop disease progression.

Leerink Partners analyst Marc Goodman maintains an Outperform rating and a $9.00 price target, and commented: “Overall, we believe this agreement amendment does a good job of validating AC Immune’s small-molecule Morphomer platform, which differentiates with other Tau-targeting therapies currently in development through oral, cost-effective dosing.”

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