Johnson & Johnson to buy Cougar Biotechnology
pharmafile | May 27, 2009 | News story | Research and Development, Sales and Marketing |Â Â Cougar, J&J, JJÂ
Johnson & Johnson is to buy Los Angeles-based biotech firm Cougar Biotechnology for $970 million.
The purchase, expected to go through after June this year, will give Johnson & Johnson access to potential cancer treatment abiraterone acetate.
Cougar, which was formed six years ago, will now be part of Johnson & Johnson's Ortho Biotech oncology research & development unit, part of Centocor Research & Development.
"The acquisition of Cougar Biotechnology with its talented team will strengthen our growing capabilities toward a leadership position in the global oncology market," said William Hait, Ortho's global therapeutic head, oncology.
"We are developing new treatments that we anticipate will change the course of cancer treatment by targeting the tumour and its microenvironment and thereby will provide a meaningful difference in the lives of millions of patients worldwide," he said.
Cougar's prostate cancer treatment Abiraterone acetate is currently in two phase III trials.
The late-stage compound, which inhibits the steroidal enzyme 17-alpha hydroxylase/C17,20 lyase, is being assessed in patients with metastatic, castration-resistant prostate cancer who have both received and not received chemotherapy.
Cougar founder Alan Auerbach said: "We believe that this transaction strongly positions abiraterone acetate for future success with a leading healthcare company that has the expertise, resources, dedication and motivation to deliver it to the cancer patients who need it."
Prostate cancer accounts for 10% of cancer-related deaths in the US, while in the UK it is second only to lung cancer as the most common cancer killer of men.
Around 35,000 men in the UK are diagnosed every year, with around 10,000 killed by the disease.
Abiraterone is also being studied in a phase I/II trial for breast cancer.
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