Janssen And Aduro Ink New Deal In Lung Cancer Immunotherapy
Janssen Biotech and Aduro BioTech announced their second agreement to develop treatments for lung cancer using Aduro’s LADD immunotherapy platform.
LADD is a platform of live-attenuated double-deleted Listeria monocytogenes strains designed to invoke an innate immune response and to express tumor-linked antigens to trigger tumor-specific T cell-mediated immunity. Aduro received Breakthrough Therapy designation from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for its pancreatic cancer combo immunotherapy based on LADD technology.
Under the terms of the partnership, Janssen Biotech gains an exclusive global license to product candidates developed with LADD for lung cancer and several other cancers. Aduro will receive $30 million in upfront payment and will be eligible for other milestone payments worth up to $817 million based on the achievement of development, regulatory, and marketing goals. Aduro will also be eligible to receive royalties from global net sales of the products.
Janssen will take the lead in the research and development, production, regulatory, and marketing of the licensed products. Aduro may offer assistance if needed and will also be compensated for any additional assistance it provides to Janssen. The deal was facilitated by the Johnson & Johnson Innovation Center in California. The two companies first collaborated in May when Janssen licensed Aduro’s LADD-based immunotherapies for prostate cancer.
“Since our initial agreement with Janssen in May of this year for new immunotherapies for prostate cancer, they have been terrific partners and we’ve established a strong collaboration focused on advancing our technologies forward in their licensed indications. We believe our LADD technology also offers tremendous promise as a potential treatment for lung cancer and we are pleased to expand our relationship with Janssen,” said Stephen T. Isaacs, Chairman, President and CEO of Aduro.