Abivax in no rush for a deal, confident key June trial data can secure better terms for partnerships, CEO tells CNBC

Abivax is planning to raise money after releasing key trial data in June, its CEO told CNBC on Tuesday, signaling to potential buyers of the firm that it is in no rush to sell.
Intense takeover rumors have surrounded the French biotech company for months, impacting the volatile stock that rose nearly 1,700% in 2025. Analysts see it as a prime takeover target, and several pharma giants have been rumored as potential buyers.
A second late-stage trial assessing the long-term, maintenance effect of Abivax' lead, and only, asset obefazimod will read out late in the second quarter. Subject to positive data, it plans to apply for U.S. Food and Drug Administration approval in the fourth quarter, the company has said.
The drug is widely seen as a potentially best-in-class medicine for ulcerative colitis and is also being tested as a treatment for Crohn's disease, opening it up to a multi-billion-dollar market for Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS).
"It's more logical again, for outside of the U.S. to wait post maintenance, because, as you know, the terms are going to be better… since we're confident that this study is going to read positively," Abivax CEO Marc de Garidel said, when asked about future partnerships and deals.
"Why hurry," when the company is three months away from the readout, he said.
Investors see the next trial results as a major inflection point for the company and one that potential buyers are watching closely.
It is "really likely" Abivax will raise funds through a potential combination of equity financing and debt after the maintenance data, de Garidel said. "We are currently assessing how much money we need to raise in, let's say, late June… to take us to profitability." Funds raised would be at least several million, he added.
The company has consistently emphasized that it has enough cash to carry it through late 2027, and on Monday reported a cash pile of 530 million euros ($613 million) as of the end of 2025. In July last year, it raised nearly $750 million shortly after another clinical trial sent shares up 510% in one day.
Abivax appears to be signaling to potential buyers that it is in no rush to secure an offer. It also announced late on Monday that former Takeda Vice President Michael Nesrallah will take on the role of chief commercial officer.
Its research and development expenses in 2025 increased by 31.2 million euros to 177.8 million euros. Overall expenses will ramp up by late 2026 and 2027, mostly due to commercial expenses, de Garidel told CNBC, also highlighting more key hires on the commercial side over the next six months.
Biotech companies nearing launch must always make preparations to go at it alone without the backing or the acquisition by a larger peer, said Van Lanschot Kempen analyst Sebastiaan van der Schoot.
"But the overall assumption is that they will be acquired prior to approval and prior to launch," van der Schoot said, adding that a positive maintenance trial readout is already largely priced in to the company's share price.
Stifel analyst Damien Choplain said earlier this month that given the strength of Abivax' earlier data and the scarcity of comparable assets, he expects a deal could be made ahead of the maintenance data readout, even if a post‑readout could maximize value.
A global launch is too much for the still small company, which currently only has around 150 employees, said de Garidel.
"After the maintenance readout, outside of the U.S., we will look for a partner, or partners depending upon who is interested and the profile of those companies, to try to launch outside of the U.S," he added.
However, U.S. President Donald Trump's so-called Most Favored Nation drug pricing policy has become a complication as it eventually looks to launch obefazimod outside of the U.S. MFN refers to pegging drug prices in the U.S. to the lowest level paid in a comparable country.
When the company eventually finds a partner outside of the U.S., "we have to bear in mind that everything this partner does outside of the U.S. doesn't jeopardize what happens in the U.S.," de Garidel said.