An entry signal to the Johnson & Johnson campus reveals their emblem in Irvine, California on August 28, 2019.
Mark Ralston | AFP | Getty Images
Johnson & Johnson on Monday mentioned it would pay $2 billion in cash to acquire Ambrx Biopharma, a drugmaker specializing in one of many hottest areas of cancer remedy.
Ambrx is aiming to goal a number of cancers with medication known as antibody-drug conjugates, or ADCs, that are described by researchers as “guided missiles” to straight goal and kill cancer cells and decrease injury to wholesome tissue.
The deal, which was introduced on the primary day of the annual JPMorgan Healthcare Conference, makes J&J the newest drugmaker to wager on ADCs following related strikes by different giant drugmakers – together with Pfizer, AbbVie and Merck – during the last yr.
The acquisition additionally comes as J&J scrambles to fill a income gap that is approaching in 2025, when its top-selling drug Stelara, which is used to deal with a long-lasting autoimmune illness known as psoriasis, is anticipated to face generic competitors.
“Ambrx’s pipeline and ADC platform current thrilling future alternatives to ship enhanced, precision biologics as we glance to rework the remedy of cancer and enhance sufferers’ lives,” Dr. Yusri Elsayed, J&J’s international therapeutic space head of oncology, mentioned in a launch.
Under the phrases of the deal, J&J can pay $28 a share for Ambrx, or about double the agency’s Friday closing value of $13.63. J&J expects to shut the deal within the first half of 2024.
Shares of Ambrx practically doubled in early buying and selling Monday to slightly below that buy value, whereas J&J’s inventory was flat.