AC Immune SA announced that it will receive the second ReTain-related milestone payment (CHF 24.6 million) under its agreement with Janssen Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (Janssen), a Johnson & Johnson company.
The milestone payment has been triggered by the rapid rate of prescreening in the potentially registrational Phase 2b ReTain trial investigating active-immunotherapy candidate ACI-35.030 (now called “JNJ-2056”) to treat preclinical (pre-symptomatic) Alzheimer’s disease (AD). With last December’s milestone payment, this brings the total milestone payments received for ACI-35.030 related to this trial to CHF 40 million.
Dr. Andrea Pfeifer, CEO of AC Immune SA, commented: “This early milestone demonstrates that the medical community and members of the public believe, as we do, that second generation therapeutics for Alzheimer’s disease, like our active immunotherapy targeting pathological phosphorylated-Tau protein (pTau), may provide an important benefit to those diagnosed early, prior to the development of disease symptoms. Early diagnosis and treatment are needed to combat neurodegeneration.
“This payment also re-affirms the quality and productivity of AC Immune’s technology platforms and drug development capabilities. We have now received a total of approximately CHF 425 million in milestone and upfront payments from all of our collaboration deals to date, and there are outstanding potential milestone payments exceeding CHF 4.3 billion, plus royalties on potential sales. Importantly, in these challenging financial markets, this milestone payment adds to our already solid financial position, providing us with three years of cash for operations, in which time we expect to achieve several potentially transformational milestones.”
JNJ-2056 received Fast Track designation from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in July, an important recognition of its differentiation and its potential value for patients. It is the second active immunotherapy from AC Immune to achieve this regulatory milestone, after ACI-24.060, which targets Abeta. AC Immune’s PI-2620 Tau-PET diagnostic, which is in Phase 3 development, also received Fast Track designation this August.
ACI-35.030 has been shown in Phase 1b/2a clinical testing to induce an antibody response targeting pTau while sparing normal endogenous forms of Tau. ReTain has attracted a high level of interest among potential participants with the rate of prescreening outperforming expectations.
“The Phase 2b ReTain trial is a potentially important step in the fight against neurodegeneration, as it is the first time any active immunotherapy is being tested in the preclinical AD population. Active immunotherapies like ACI-35.030 could offer therapeutic advantages, together with improved convenience and access, and the recent Fast Track designation is an important recognition of its potential value for patients,” Dr. Pfeifer said.
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