Janssen Biotech, Inc., a Johnson & Johnson (JNJ) company, will be paying $25 million to biotech company, Genmab (GNMSF), related to the development of experimental cancer treatment, daratumumab. The milestone payment was triggered by progress in an ongoing phase III study evaluating daratumumab plus Revlimid (lenalidomide) and dexamethasone versus Revlimid and dexamethasone alone for the treatment of relapsed or refractory multiple myeloma.
The $25 million payment is the second milestone to be triggered in the last few months under the daratumumab agreement. Earlier this year in March, Genmab had said that it will receive a $22 million milestone payment related to progress in a phase II study. Under the agreement with Johnson & Johnson, Genmab could receive up to $1 billion in the form of development, regulatory and sales-based milestone payments.
Johnson & Johnson and Genmab’s agreement for daratumumab dates back to Aug 2012. Under the terms of the agreement, Johnson & Johnson acquired an exclusive global license to develop and commercialize CD38 antibody, daratumumab, plus a backup human CD38 antibody.
Daratumumab, which is currently being developed for multiple myeloma, has the potential to be developed for several other cancers on which CD38 is expressed. Some of the cancers for which it can be evaluated include diffuse large B-cell lymphoma, chronic lymphocytic leukemia, acute lymphoblastic leukemia, plasma cell leukemia, acute myeloid leukemia, follicular lymphoma and mantle cell lymphoma.
The FDA granted Breakthrough Therapy Designation to daratumumab for the treatment of multiple myeloma patients who have received at least three prior lines of therapy including a proteasome inhibitor (PI) and an immunomodulatory agent (IMiD) or who are double refractory to a PI and an IMiD.
Johnson & Johnson is a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy) stock. Some equally well-ranked stocks in the pharma sector include Allergan Inc. (AGN) and AstraZeneca (AZN). Both are Zacks Rank #2 stocks.
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