Janssen to Pay Up to $835 Million for Antisense Therapy

Isis Pharmaceuticals announced on Jan. 5, 2015 that it entered into a collaboration with Janssen Biotech to develop three antisense drugs to treat autoimmune disorders of the gastrointestinal (GI) tract. Isis will receive $35 million up front with the potential for an additional $800 million in payments and license fees for development, regulatory, and sales milestones. Isis will also receive tiered royalties for successfully commercialized products. Janssen will have the option to license a drug from each of the three programs agreed upon, once a candidate is identified.

Isis specializes in RNA-targeted technology to discover and develop novel therapies. Isis’ pipeline features 34 drugs, including its lead product KYNAMRO, for the treatment of homozygous familial hypercholesterolemia. It is evident that Isis continues to gain traction in the biotech industry. UT San Diego reported in December 2014 that the company’s shares were at an all-time high due to an increase in late-stage developments in its pipeline, and had increased more at the time this article was written due to the Janssen collaboration.

"We are excited to be working with Janssen to apply our drug discovery and development efforts in this therapeutic area. This collaboration broadens the utility of our drug discovery technology to new targets in the GI tract and expands the administration of antisense drugs to local delivery, including oral delivery, to the gut. We are the leader in RNA-targeted therapeutics and our innovation and the successes of our pipeline drugs enable us to form collaborations, like this one, with leaders in specific therapeutic areas,” said B. Lynne Parshall, COO of Isis Pharmaceuticals, in a press release.

Sources:
Isis PharmaceuticalsIsis PipelineMarketWatchNational Human Genome Research Institute