AC Immune

The company exclusively targets protein-misfolding diseases, principally Alzheimer's, Parkinson's, and rare neuro-orphan conditions such as ALS and frontotemporal dementia. Its science rests on antibodies, small molecules (Morphomers), and PET imaging tracers that detect pathological tau and alpha-synuclein aggregates.

Clinical costs are shared with pharmaceutical partners including Roche's Genentech division and Eli Lilly, which license AC Immune's drug candidates and cover late-stage trial expenses. The firm has raised more than $300 million in cumulative milestone payments from these partnerships since founding. Its Nasdaq listing provides additional equity capital for early-stage discovery work, while the Michael J. Fox Foundation and EU Horizon Europe grants fund specific diagnostic programs.

Unlike single-asset companies, AC Immune owns a dual modality platform covering biologics and small molecules, plus a diagnostic tracer arm that generates PET imaging agents for patient selection. This means partners often license a therapeutic plus the companion tracer that proves target engagement — a rare, vertically integrated structure in neurology biotech.

Genentech, a member of the Roche Group, is the longest-standing partner, having advanced crenezumab and semorinemab into Phase 3 Alzheimer's trials. Eli Lilly licensed the alpha-synuclein inhibitor ACI-3024 (now under Lilly development) for Parkinson's. Life Molecular Imaging partners on tau-PET diagnostics. These alliances place three separate classes of neurological targets under partnered clinical development.

Co-founder and CEO Dr. Andrea Pfeifer leads from Lausanne, Switzerland, where the company is listed on Nasdaq but maintains Swiss operational and research headquarters. Pfeifer previously directed Nestlé's global health research group before founding AC Immune in 2003. The Basel laboratory handles much of the discovery chemistry, placing both Swiss sites within Europe's dense life-sciences corridor.

As of its December 2024 year-end, AC Immune reported a cash position sufficient to fund operations into 2027 based on current partnership revenue and grant commitments. The extended runway reduces near-term dilution risk while the partnered Phase 3 programs mature and the TDP-43 antibody generates additional proof-of-concept data.

In March 2025 the company reported first human data on an anti-TDP-43 monoclonal antibody, a program targeting the hallmark pathology found in roughly half of ALS patients and a substantial proportion of frontotemporal dementia cases. No approved drug currently addresses TDP-43 aggregation, making this one of the few clinical-stage efforts in that sub-field.