Vectura and J&J shake on asthma/COPD deal
pharmafile | January 6, 2015 | News story | Research and Development, Sales and Marketing | COPD, J&J, JJ, Janssen, asthma, johnson, rezolsta, tybost, vectura
British firm Vectura has entered an agreement with Johnson & Johnson’s pharma unit Janssen to develop therapies for asthma and COPD.
The collaboration will focus initially on the advance of a Phase II candidate and has the potential to include additional clinical-stage candidates.
“Vectura’s role in this agreement is to apply its expertise in the development of products for airway-related diseases and to utilise its technology/device platform offerings, some of which have regulatory and commercial validation,” says Dr Chris Blackwell, chief executive of Vectura.
The UK product developer’s dry powder inhaler technologies will be used to develop Janssen’s pulmonary products, such as inhaled therapeutics for airways-related diseases.
Janssen will lead the clinical development programmes with Vectura taking responsibility for pharmaceutical growth and preparation for Phase II trials.
COPD is one of the most common respiratory diseases in the UK and usually only starts to affect people over the age of 35, although most people are not diagnosed until they are in their 50s. Asthma affects around 5.4 million people in the UK – the equivalent of one in every 12 adults and one in every 11 children.
Joint ventures in other areas
Janssen recently launched its HIV therapy Rezolsta in the UK, which combines its own Prezista (darunavir) with Gilead’s Tybost (cobicistat).
EMA approval was granted after data showed that the drug was effective over 48 weeks with only 5% of patients discontinuing the treatment due to adverse events.
“The availability of this new formulation means that, for the first time, patients will be able to take a protease inhibitor and boosting agent once a day, in a single tablet, in combination with other required antiretroviral medicines,” says Professor Anna Geretti from the Institute of Infection and Global Health at the University of Liverpool.
It is estimated that there are 100,000 people living with HIV in the UK and approximately 6,000 new diagnoses confirmed each year. Protease inhibitors like Prezista combat the virus by blocking an enzyme that it uses to help replicate.
In its statement Janssen says that it will continue to make Prezista available as a single agent so that “patients and their physicians can decide which HIV treatment regimen is best for them”.
Tom Robinson
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