According to Pulmatrix, the Lung Cancer Initiative at Johnson & Johnson will pay $7.2 million up front plus a $2 million milestone payment for an option “to access a portfolio of narrow spectrum kinase inhibitors intended for development in lung cancer interception.” The $2 million milestone payment will be due on completion of a Phase 1b study of RV1162/PUR1800 in COPD patients that is already underway and that is expected to be complete by the end of the year.
Pulmatrix, which licensed its portfolio of kinase inhibitors from J&J subsidiary RespiVert in June 2017, said that the deal would be worth an additional $91 million in milestone payments if the Lung Cancer Initiative exercises the option. In February 2019, Pulmatrix announced that it had received five new patents covering PUR1800 as well as PUR5700, another of the company’s inhaled narrow spectrum kinase inhibitors.
Pulmatrix CEO Ted Raad commented, “Pulmatrix’s iSPERSE platform has the ability to enhance the safety and efficacy profile of promising drug candidates. We applied the iSPERSE technology to RV1162/PUR1800, the lead in-licensed inhibitor and helped unlock its clinical potential by improving the product’s profile from the original formulation. In 2020, we anticipate clinical data from the first of these inhibitors in a disease area with significant unmet medical need. We look forward to collaborating with the Lung Cancer Initiative at Johnson & Johnson as we advance this important program.”
“Additionally,” Raad said, “in 2020, we anticipate data from our Phase 2 Pulmazole program and we plan to introduce new proprietary, wholly owned iSPERSE enabled 505(b)(2) assets to our pipeline.” Rights to Pulmazole were acquired by Cipla subsidiary Cip Tec in April 2019.
Read the Pulmatrix press release.
