Biopharma multinational Chiesi Group has inked an exclusive global licensing agreement with Aliada Therapeutics, a wholly owned AbbVie subsidiary, aiming to accelerate a new class of treatments capable of crossing the blood–brain barrier (BBB) for patients with lysosomal storage disorders (LSDs)—conditions where neurological symptoms remain stubbornly underserved.

The partnership gives Chiesi worldwide rights to develop and commercialize enzyme replacement therapies built on Aliada’s proprietary BBB-penetrating platform. In return, Aliada will receive an upfront payment, along with development and commercial milestone payments and tiered royalties on eventual sales. Chiesi will shoulder all research, development, and global commercialization costs, as per a release.

Giacomo Chiesi, Executive Vice President of Chiesi Global Rare Diseases, said the agreement reinforces the company’s long-term push to tackle the cognitive and neurological toll of rare metabolic diseases. “These aspects of the disease are frequently underserved, yet they can profoundly affect patients and their families,” he said. “By advancing this research, we intend to go beyond symptom management and potentially address the fundamental neurological burden directly.”

The deal builds on a research collaboration launched in August 2023 exploring multiple enzyme cargoes engineered with Aliada’s MODEL platform, which uses the brain’s own endothelial transport pathways to shuttle large therapeutics across the BBB—long one of drug development’s most formidable obstacles.

Mitch Goldman, Senior Vice President of R&D at Chiesi Global Rare Diseases, said the expanded partnership marks a pivotal step forward. “We're advancing therapies and opening the door to identifying therapeutic pathways for lysosomal storage disorders, supported by encouraging preclinical data,” he said. “What truly drives us is the urgent call from patients and families to move beyond symptom management and directly address the unmet neurological burden.”

For patients with LSDs—many of whom face progressive cognitive decline with no effective brain-targeted options—industry watchers say the agreement signals rising momentum behind BBB-crossing platforms. For Chiesi, it positions the company at the forefront of a wave of next-generation therapies aimed at treating the brain directly, not peripherally.

If successful, the collaboration could shift the treatment paradigm for some of the rarest and most challenging inherited disorders—and deliver long-sought hope to families who have waited decades for meaningful neurological innovation.