Johnson & Johnson Innovation and Janssen Pharmaceuticals, Inc. today announced an exclusive license agreement with Chia Tai Tianqing Pharmaceutical Group Co., Ltd. (CTTQ), a Chinese domestic pharmaceutical company and subsidiary of Sino Biopharma, Ltd. focused on liver diseases, to develop, manufacture and commercialize, outside of China, undisclosed immune-modulating agents to treat human diseases, including curative treatment of chronic Hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection.
The agreement, facilitated by Johnson & Johnson Innovation, Janssen Business Development, follows the recent acquisition of Novira Therapeutics, Inc. and collaborations with Ichor Medical Systems, Inc. and the University of the Witwatersrand in South Africa, to address the significant unmet medical need inflicted by HBV. Chronic Hepatitis B is a potentially fatal liver disease with approximately 60 percent of hepatocellular carcinoma cases attributed to infection with the Hepatitis B virus. Current therapies are unable to cure the infection, requiring most people to endure lifelong treatment. More than 350 million people are infected with HBV worldwide.
“Johnson & Johnson Innovation’s mission is to identify the best science around the world to advance important therapies and products for patients and consumers,” said Paul Stoffels, M.D., Chief Scientific Officer and Worldwide Chairman, Pharmaceuticals, Johnson & Johnson. “Today, we are announcing an important new collaboration with Chia Tai Tianqing Pharmaceutical Group, which along with our additional new collaborations in the Hepatitis B area, demonstrates the strength and capabilities of our worldwide innovation model.”
“Our aim is to develop a cure for Hepatitis B by building the best internal and external pipeline of promising, complementary solutions and advancing them into the clinic as rapidly as possible,” said William N. Hait, M.D., Ph.D., Global Head of Janssen Research & Development. “We are excited by the opportunity to work with Chia Tai Tianqing Pharmaceutical Group and to fully leverage our expertise in this critical disease area in order to bring potentially transformational treatments to patients.”