Johnson & Johnson said Thursday it will pay $850 million in cash for Proteologix, a relatively unknown private biotech working on treatments for immune-mediated diseases, including the crowded field of atopic dermatitis.
The deal is relatively small compared to J&J’s recent M&A activity, and it’s quite early: Proteologix’s lead asset is “ready to enter Phase 1,” according to a press release.
“Integrating Proteologix bispecific antibodies into our pipeline is an important first step in fulfilling our commitment to people living with AD,” Candice Long, J&J’s worldwide VP of immunology, said in a statement.
Proteologix’s first shot on goal, dubbed PX128, is a bispecific that targets both IL-13 and TSLP. PX128 is ready for clinical testing in atopic dermatitis and asthma, J&J said. Sanofi’s Phase 2 asthma candidate lunsekimig also hits both targets.
IL-13 has caught the biopharma bug. Sanofi and Regeneron’s Dupixent is the most famous (it also blocks IL-4). Eli Lilly, Apogee Therapeutics and others, including recent entrants like Attovia Therapeutics, are racing to the target.
TSLP, meanwhile, is an intriguing target of its own that has attracted investors and acquisitive pharmas. On Wednesday, Blackstone Life Sciences said it committed up to $300 million to startup Uniquity Bio to test a TSLP-targeted antibody for asthma and COPD.
Amgen and AstraZeneca market the monthly TSLP biologic Tezspire. It’s led to a race for next-generation medicines: GSK dished out $1 billion upfront to snag a clinical-stage startup in the space, and Upstream Bio bagged a $200 million round last summer to test its candidate from Astellas.
J&J plans to test another Proteologix bispecific, PX130, in atopic dermatitis. The preclinical-stage antibody goes after IL-13 and IL-22. By also inhibiting IL-22, J&J said it thinks PX130 will “restore the skin barrier and prevent inflammation from environmental triggers, such as allergens.”
The drugmaker said it plans for “infrequent dosing,” a move that Apogee, Attovia and others are all trying to make.
Smaller than recent deals
David ShenProteologix could receive an additional undisclosed milestone as part of the deal, which it expects to close in the middle of this year. David Shen, a former SVP and head of biologics research at NGM Biopharmaceuticals, founded Proteologix in 2021.
J&J’s recent string of acquisitions include the $2 billion deal for antibody-drug conjugate maker Ambrx Biopharma. It also made multiple additions on the cardiovascular front in medtech: $13.1 billion for Shockwave Medical, $400 million for Laminar and $16.6 billion for Abiomed.
It also decoupled its consumer health unit Kenvue by way of a publicly listed separation last spring.