In 2014 Calico and AbbVie agreed to work together on all elements required to bring new therapies for age-related illnesses like neurodegeneration to market. In that time they have delivered on numerous early stage programmes spanning oncology and neuroscience and have uncovered new knowledge and understanding of the biology of aging. They have now agreed to extend that collaboration, costing them $500 million each, and Calico will be responsible for research and early development until 2022. AbbVie will continue to support Calico R&D and can elect to manage late-stage development and commercial activities after completion of Phase IIa studies. Profits and costs will be shared equally.

“They have now agreed to extend that collaboration, costing them $500 million each, and Calico will be responsible for research and early development until 2022.“

Michael Severino, EVP Research and Development, chief scientific officer at AbbVie said: "We've built a successful collaboration – both scientifically and culturally – that is advancing cutting-edge science. Calico has attracted an outstanding team of world-class scientists and the extension of this collaboration allows us to further build on the research we've done to identify transformative treatment options for patients with age-related diseases."