Halda Therapeutics is developing oral assets for prostate and lung cancer. The deal comes after Johnson & Johnson set an ambitious goal for its oncology sales by 2030.
Johnson & Johnson is plunking down $3.05 billion in cash to acquire Halda Therapeutics in a play to beef up its cancer pipeline.
The acquisition brings Halda’s pipeline of oral therapies for treating solid tumors to J&J, according to Monday morning’s announcement. Halda’s lead candidate is HLD-0915, a once-daily oral therapy for prostate cancer that was granted fast track designation from the FDA in August.
Phase I/II data presented in late 2024 “showed encouraging preliminary signs of anti-tumor activity,” lowering prostate cancer biomarkers and achieving partial responses in five out of five patients. The company’s Phase I/II trial for metastatic, castration-resistant prostate cancer (mCRPC) is still ongoing.
“This acquisition further strengthens our deep oncology pipeline with an exciting lead asset in prostate cancer and a platform capable of treating multiple cancers and diseases beyond oncology, providing a potential mid- and long-term catalyst for growth,” Jennifer Taubert, J&J’s executive vice president of Innovative Medicine, said in a statement.
During a second-quarter earnings call this past July, CEO Joaquin Duato announced a target of $50 billion in oncology sales by 2030.
Feeding into that, Halda brings a development platform called Regulated Induced Proximity Targeting Chimera, or RIPTAC, which the company uses to design linked ligands that target two different proteins: a tumor-specific protein and another protein with an essential function. The goal is to kill tumor cells while sparing non-cancerous cells.
Halda refers to all of its drugs as RIPTACs. Other drugs in the pipeline include a breast cancer drug targeting hormone receptor positive (HR+) tumors, an asset being tested in lung cancer and other undisclosed therapies.
For Halda, the acquisition represents a swift return on investment. The company launched in 2019 out of the lab of Yale chemistry professor Craig Crews. Halda received strong attention from investors, most recently getting a second series B raise of $126 million to push HLD-0915, as well as an unnamed breast cancer asset, forward in development.
For J&J, the Halda acquisition is the second major acquisition deal this year after the $14.6 billion purchase of neuropsychiatric-focused Intra-Cellular Therapies in January—which still ranks as the largest pharma M&A deal of the year. J&J promised that the rest of 2025 would be quiet for business development.
J&J and Halda expect the deal to close “within the next few months,” after antitrust clearance and other closing conditions are met, according to the announcement. J&J said it would provide an update at fourth quarter earnings in late January 2026.
