AC Immune

Intangible assets: AC Immune’s differentiated platforms (SupraAntigen for active immunotherapies and Morphomer for small molecules) and first‑in‑human PET imaging capability for TDP‑43 are defensible through IP and know‑how.

The TDP‑43 tracer program is potentially first‑in‑class and could create a diagnostics wedge that supports precision prevention studies. However, these remain pre‑commercial and efficacy risk is high.

Switching costs: For partners, switching costs can be meaningful once programs progress, evidenced by ongoing Takeda and Lilly collaborations; for patients/prescribers, switching costs would depend on eventual label and real‑world outcomes. Network effects: Limited.

Diagnostics like PET can gain embeddedness within trial networks but do not exhibit classic network effects. Cost advantage: Active immunization could prove more convenient and potentially less costly than chronic infusions, but this is unproven without late‑stage outcomes and pricing.

Competing mAbs are expensive and complex to administer, but they are already approved and set the clinical efficacy bar. Efficient scale: If one or more programs succeed, the combination of platform breadth and partnerships could create an efficient capital model, yet today the company is sub‑scale with negative cash flows.

Overall, the moat is nascent and contingent on clinical success rather than established.