Adivo and Zoetis have been working together on antibody research for dogs and cats since 2021. In addition to research collaborations, Adivo developed its own portfolio of antibody drug candidates in oncology and inflammatory diseases, with a first patient study for the treatment of solid tumors in dogs launched in early 2023.
“We founded Adivo with the vision of making the benefits of next-generation monoclonal antibody therapeutics accessible to pet owners and their beloved pets worldwide. Through our merger with Zoetis, we now have multiple approaches to providing pets with more species-specific therapeutic antibodies to the highest standards,”
says Kathrin Ladetzki-Baehs, founder and CEO of Adivo.
“I am very proud of the achievements of the Adivo team after just five years of operations and minimal seed funding to start our journey. I look forward to seeing what our team can accomplish as part of a leading organization with global reach, while continuing to grow in one of Europe’s leading biopharmaceutical hubs.”
Innovation center in Puchheim
Rob Polzer, Executive Vice President and President of Research and Development at Zoetis, comments on the acquisition:
“As the world’s leading animal health company, we are constantly seeking new business development opportunities and external innovation activities that can complement our internal research and development capabilities. Integrating Adivo into our R&D organization brings unique platforms that can accelerate our research and portfolio to help us potentially address unmet customer needs in oncology, inflammatory diseases, and other areas. We look forward to the opportunities ahead.”
Adivo will serve as one of Zoetis’s innovation centers for antibody drug research with more than 1,000 m² of laboratory space in Puchheim near Munich.
“Great development in recent years”
In 2018, Kathrin Ladetzki-Baehs and Markus Waldhuber, the two founders of Adivo, secured a seed round of funding involving HTGF, Occident, and MorphoSys AG. According to Munich Startup Insights, the company has raised a total of €2.5 million to date.
Angelika Vlachou, partner at HTGF, comments:
“We are delighted that Adivo has been acquired by Zoetis with its outstanding and high-performance technology. As one of the first investors in Adivo, it was impressive to witness the great development over the past few years. The acquisition by Zoetis is now the next logical step to bring next-generation antibody therapeutics closer to clinical use in animal patients.”
