AbbVie has entered into a global collaboration and license agreement with HotSpot Therapeutics, in a deal worth up to US$335 M, to develop a small molecule interferon regulatory factor 5 (IRF5) inhibitor for the treatment of autoimmune diseases, leveraging the latter’s proprietary Smart Allostery™ drug discovery platform. The deal aligns with AbbVie’s strategic move to further expand its immunology pipeline and offers HotSpot the opportunity to conduct research and validate its pipeline across varied therapeutic indications.