J&J acquires Index Ventures-owned firm XO1
pharmafile | March 23, 2015 | News story | Sales and Marketing | Index Ventures, Isis, J&J, JJ, Janssen, vectura, xo1
Johnson & Johnson’s pharma unit Janssen has acquired Index Ventures’ biopharma firm XO1 Limited that develops the promising anti-thrombin antibody ichorcumab.
Ichorcumab is a recombinant human antibody developed to mimic the activity of human proteins, and has shown signs of deterring the clotting of blood.
“Ichorcumab provides an excellent complement to the Janssen cardiovascular portfolio,” comments Peter DiBattiste, who is the global development head of cardiovascular R&D at Janssen. “Given Janssen’s leadership in the fields of anticoagulation and biologics, we are well positioned to explore the potential of this next generation anticoagulant.”
The investigational drug was initially developed by Cambridge University with support from Cambridge Enterprise, the institute’s commercialisation arm. According to its creators, ichorcumab potentially differs from existing drugs in its class, in that it is observed to deliver anticoagulation without an apparent increase in the risk of bleeding.
“This acquisition illustrates how our global innovation strategy enables a local, hands-on approach that supports the regional life science ecosystems, and provides access to potentially breakthrough products in areas of strategic interest,” says Patrick Verheyen, who is the head of innovation at Johnson & Johnson.
Today’s collaboration follows a flurry of deals in 2015 for Janssen, including one with California-based Isis Pharmaceuticals to develop antisense drugs to treat autoimmune disorders. The partnership combines Isis’ RNA-targeted technology and Janssen’s experience in therapeutic formulation to produce treatments for diseases of the gastrointestinal (GI) tract.
In addition, Janssen also entered into an agreement with British firm Vectura to develop therapies for asthma and COPD. This collaboration focusses on the advance of a Phase II candidate and has the potential to include additional clinical-stage candidates.
Vectura’s dry powder inhaler technologies are also being used to develop Janssen’s pulmonary products, such as inhaled therapeutics for airways-related diseases.
Financial terms of today’s transaction with XO1 have not been disclosed. Ichorcumab is currently in pre-clinical development, and the two firms will be aiming to initiate first human clinical trials of the agent in 2015.
Tom Robinson
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