January 5, 2015
By Mark Terry, BioSpace.com Breaking News Staff
Carlsbad, Calif.-based Isis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. announced today that it had entered into a collaboration deal with Janssen Biotech Inc. to partner on the discovery and development of antisense compounds to treat autoimmune disorders of the gastrointestinal (GI) tract.
The news pushed the company’s share price up more than 8 percent in morning trading to rest at $66.78. Isis stock has been on a gradual rise for the last month. Its Dec. 5 share price was $52.76. It has had its ups and downs since, with a high of $65.09 on Dec. 19.
The deal will encompass three programs. Janssen will pay Isis $35 million in upfront payments, including a down payment to start human lead optimization on the companies’ first target. Isis may also receive almost $800 million in various milestone payments and licensing fees. Tiered royalties are also pending successful commercialization.
“We are excited to be working with Janssen to apply our drug discovery and development efforts in this therapeutic area,” said B. Lynne Parshall, chief operating officer of Isis in a statement. “This collaboration broadens the utility of our drug discovery technology to new targets in the GI tracts and expands the administration of antisense drugs to local delivery, including oral delivery, to the gut.”
In October BioSpace reported that Isis had received a $18 million milestone payment from GlaxoSmithKline for advancing ISIS-TTR Rx. Developed in partnership with GSK, the drug is in development to treat transthyretin amyloidosis.
Isis has a pipeline of 32 drugs for a range of diseases, including cardiovascular, metabolic, severe and rare conditions. Its lead product is Kynamro, which is being commercialized by Genzyme. It also has partnered with AstraZeneca , Biogen Idec , and Roche .
“This partnering strategy ensures that we have access to resources that support and enhance our drug discovery efforts,” said Parshall in a statement, “and also provides us with collaborators, like Janssen, who are uniquely capable of conducting development, marketing and commercial efforts for these drugs.”
Isis focuses on antisense drug discovery and development. Antisense drug targets are RNA molecules. Many of the drugs in Isis’ pipeline bind to messenger RNAs (mRNAs) and inhibit the production of whatever proteins are involved with the disease.
The company’s leadership will present a company overview at the 33rd Annual J.P. Morgan Healthcare Conference on Monday, Jan. 12, 2015 at 2:30 p.m. PT in San Francisco, Calif. A live audio webcast will also be available.
