Aribio announced on the 10th that it has exported the candidate substance for Alzheimer’s disease treatment, AR1001, to Arcera, a pharmaceutical corporation based in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates (UAE). The contract size, including milestones received for each successful stage of development and commercialization, totals $600 million (about 813 billion won).
If AR1001 is successfully developed, Arcera will hold exclusive sales rights for AR1001 in the Middle East, Central and South America, Africa, and the Ukraine and Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) regions. Aribio will be responsible for the global production and supply of AR1001. Arcera is a global life sciences corporation established by the UAE sovereign wealth funds ADQ, supplying over 2,000 pharmaceutical products to more than 90 countries worldwide.
Alzheimer’s disease is a degenerative brain disease that accounts for two-thirds of dementia patients, where clusters of amyloid beta and tau proteins are abnormally aggregated in the patient’s brain.
According to the company, AR1001 is a candidate substance targeting tau proteins, developed as an oral medication taken once daily. It was originally developed by SK Chemicals, with Aribio leading the development through a transfer of technology.
This works by protecting nerve cells and removing the hyperphosphorylation of tau, a protein that causes Alzheimer’s disease, thereby improving blood flow in the brain to fundamentally treat Alzheimer’s disease. Currently, it is in a global phase 3 clinical trial after enrolling 1,500 patients and is expected to announce major clinical results in the first half of 2026.
The agreement was reached through the South Korean government’s policy to foster the biohealth industry and the Korea Development Bank (KDB) Industrial Bank's global partnership support program. Prior to the contract, the two companies signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) for partnership regarding joint research and development in March.
Jeong Jae-jun, CEO of Aribio, noted, "Arcera has a deep understanding of the Alzheimer’s treatment market and strong commercialization capabilities, making it the optimal partner for patients in the contracted regions to maximize benefits after the clinical success of AR1001." He added, "This contract will serve as the foundation for the future global commercialization strategy of AR1001, and we will continuously strive to finalize exclusive licensing agreements with global partners."
Isabel Afonso, CEO of Arcera, stated, "This agreement aligns with our strategy to expand our neuroscience pipeline and will reaffirm Arcera's commitment to provide innovative treatment options for Alzheimer’s patients who lack access to therapies."
Meanwhile, Aribio, established in October 2010, is pursuing a merger with the listed company Solux, with the merger date set for August 26.