J&J antes up on a $1B gam­ble that Ther­a­vance has the next block­buster JAK for Crohn’s, ul­cer­a­tive col­i­tis

Even as Gilead $GILD and Ab­b­Vie $AB­BV jock­ey for the lead in a com­pelling late-stage race to de­vel­op sys­temic JAK1 in­hibitors for in­flam­ma­to­ry bow­el dis­ease and oth­er ail­ments, J&J has moved up­stream, com­mit­ting to spend up to a bil­lion dol­lars to see if Ther­a­vance $TBPH has found a tar­get­ed, next-gen ap­proach that can ul­ti­mate­ly trans­form treat­ment in the IBD field.

J&J has agreed to hand over $100 mil­lion in cash to launch a part­ner­ship with Ther­a­vance on the pan-JAK in­hibitor TD-1473 and a slate of back­ups that leaves Janssen on the hook for 67% of the costs and a shot at the same slice of the US mar­ket, while con­trol­ling ex-US sales ef­forts.

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