June 13 (Reuters) - U.S. drugmaker AbbVie ( ABBV ) will

develop and commercialize an experimental treatment for

inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) from China's FutureGen

Biopharmaceutical under a licensing agreement, the companies

said on Thursday.

WHY IT'S IMPORTANT

AbbVie ( ABBV ) has been counting on its newer immunology medicines

to help make up for declining sales of blockbuster arthritis

drug Humira following the entry of biosimilars in the U.S.

The drugmaker bought Landos Biopharma for up to

$212 million in March to gain access to its lead experimental

drug to treat ulcerative colitis.

Also, FutureGen's drug candidate, FG-M701, is a

next-generation therapy in a class of monoclonal antibody drugs

that potentially requires less frequent dosing compared to

existing therapies for IBD, according to the companies.

BY THE NUMBERS

FutureGen will receive an upfront payment of $150 million

and up to $1.56 billion more upon achieving certain milestones.

It is also eligible to receive tiered royalties up to low-double

digits on net sales of the drug.

CONTEXT

FG-M701, currently in preclinical development, belongs to a

promising new class of drugs known as anti-TL1A antibodies, a

target of interest for major drugmakers including Merck ( MRK )

and Roche.

Inflammatory bowel disease, a group of disorders that cause

chronic inflammation in the intestines, affects an estimated 3.1

million adults in the U.S., according to government data. IBD

includes Crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis.

(Reporting by Mariam Sunny in Bengaluru; Editing by Sriraj

Kalluvila)