Johnson & Johnson's ($JNJ) Innovation Center in London has stepped in to help coordinate the acquisition of Covagen, a Swiss protein drug developer that's been working on an IL-17A anti-inflammatory for psoriasis in a very crowded field.
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| Covagen CSO and cofounder Dragan Grabulovski |
J&J was drawn in by Covagen's "FynomAb" platform, which spawned COVA322, a bispecific TNF/IL-17A inhibitor with anti-inflammatory potential. The Swiss biotech--which specializes in fusing proteins and antibodies--started out with $16 million in venture cash, adding $47 million more late last year from a syndicate that included Novartis Venture Fund and Edmond de Rothschild Investment Partners.
The companies didn't discuss any of the numbers behind the deal, but it looks like the Covagen R&D team will transfer its work to a nearby J&J subsidiary as they continue their endeavors. The company spun out of the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology back in 2007.
CSO and cofounder Dragan Grabulovski told FierceBiotech recently that the team is also keen to use the platform to build an oncology pipeline, with new work being planned on CD3 therapeutics, the red-hot field of immunomodulation and bispecific antibody drug conjugates, or "armed" antibodies, that promise to follow up on the success of first-generation therapies like Roche's ($RHHBY) Kadcyla. The IL-17A niche, meanwhile, has been crowded with late-stage candidates from Novartis ($NVS), Amgen ($AMGN) and more.
"Our goal is to translate advancements in immunology science into next-generation therapies that improve patient outcomes," said Susan Dillon, global therapeutic area head in immunology for Janssen Research & Development. "Our interest in Covagen stems from the company's scientific acumen, their novel FynomAb platform, and the potential of COVA 322, a bispecific designed to achieve better control of inflammation by blocking two key cytokines that have been implicated in disease pathogenesis and progression. We look forward to progressing COVA 322 development, and to further expanding the potential of multispecific biologics for immunologic and other diseases. This exciting opportunity underscores the value of co-locating scientific innovation leads at our regional hubs in thriving life science communities as part of our strategy to identify and realize new opportunities and build long-term competitive advantage."
J&J has been doing a string of deals globally as its network of deal teams based in London, Boston, San Francisco and Shanghai gear up activities.
- here's the release