AbbVie Inc. (NYSE: ABBV) and Cerevel Therapeutics (NASDAQ: CERE) have announced a definitive agreement under which AbbVie will acquire Cerevel Therapeutics and its robust neuroscience pipeline of multiple clinical-stage and preclinical therapeutic candidates with potential across several diseases including schizophrenia, Parkinson’s disease, and mood disorders. The US$8.7 billion acquisition complements AbbVie’s neuroscience portfolio, adding a wide range of best-in-class assets that may transform standards of care across psychiatric and neurological disorders where significant unmet needs remain for patients. Latham & Watkins LLP advised Cerevel in the acquisition with a corporate deal team led by New York/Orange County partner Charles Ruck and Orange County partner Daniel Rees, with associates Brian Umanoff, Jack McKay, AJ Hines, Courtney Lem, Danny Del Giorno, and Jacob Kempf. Advice was also provided on debt matters by Los Angeles partner Greg Rodgers, with New York associate Ryan Gold; on intellectual property matters by Bay Area partner Jekkie Kim, with associate Billy Wu; on tax matters by Bay Area partner Katharine Moir, with associate Rasha Suleiman; on FDA regulatory matters by Washington, D.C. counsel Chad Jennings, with associate Trevor Thompson; on healthcare matters by Bay Area partner Betty Pang; on benefits matters by Bay Area partner Maj Vaseghi, with associates Alisa Hand and Nimra Syed; on HSR matters by Bay Area partner Joshua Holian, with associate Olivia Zacks; and on data privacy matters by Bay Area partner Heather Deixler, with associate Mitch Bennett.* *Admitted to practice in New South Wales (Australia) only.~~