After debunking earlier rumors that it was acquiring RAS superstar Revolution Medicines, AbbVie is now taking a more definitive step into the red-hot cancer field. The Chicago pharma has agreed to help finance a KRAS inhibitor from Kestrel Therapeutics in a deal that could hit up to $1.45 billion in value and end potentially with AbbVie buying the company outright.
This comes as Kestrel today announced that the first patient has been dosed in its phase 1 trial of KST-6051, an oral small molecule meant to inhibit multiple different kinds of KRAS mutations. KRAS is a member of the rat sarcoma virus (RAS) protein family, which is often vital for the survival of certain cancers.
The world’s first approved KRAS inhibitor was Amgen’s Lumakras, nabbing an FDA green light in 2021 in non-small cell lung cancer. It followed this up last year with an approval for the drug, in combination with Vectibix, for patients with KRAS G12C-mutated metastatic colorectal cancer, and made $363 million last year.
Kestrel is testing KST-6051 in patients with advanced or metastatic solid tumors that have KRAS mutations, the company said in an April 28 release. AbbVie will help fund clinical development, and if certain milestones are met the pharma will have the option to acquire Kestrel. The deal includes an upfront payment, future exercise payments and downstream development and regulatory milestones, the value of which “could reach up to $1.45 billion,” though the pharma did not break down the details of the financing.
“This strategic agreement represents a major validation of our lead pan-KRAS program,” Kestrel CEO Frank Haluska, M.D., Ph.D., said in the release. “AbbVie’s commitment underscores the potential of our approach to address one of the most important targets in oncology.”
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Long considered undruggable, a wave of next-gen RAS inhibitors have been surging with Revolution Medicines in the lead. RevMed recently soared on strong phase 3 data for its lead RAS inhibitor daraxonrasib, and followed up with further data to strengthen its position at the American Association for Cancer Research annual meeting earlier this month.
Reports swirled in January that AbbVie was eyeing a takeover of RevMed, with a potential payout north of $20 billion. AbbVie publicly denied the rumors. With Kestrel, the pharma is now at least dipping a toe into the RAS waters.
AbbVie has not taken part in the recent pharma M&A flurry, led by Eli Lilly and Gilead Sciences, but did ink a few deals several months ago. The drugmaker ended 2025 with a $100 million upfront payment for the ex-China rights to a DLL3-targeting trispecific T-cell binder from Zejing Biopharmaceutical.
Then just a few weeks later, AbbVie entered the fiercely contested PD-1xVEGF bispecific arena with a candidate licensed from RemeGen for $650 million, with a potential value of $4.95 billion.
