South Korea's ADEL signs up to $1.04 billion Alzheimer's drug development deal with Sanofi

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.