J&J buys into Protagonist’s next-gen peptide story with $50M upfront and $940M in milestones
J&J’s venture arm participated in the startup rounds for Protagonist Therapeutics’ early development, fueling its work on a new group of oral peptide therapies built to withstand a perilous journey in the gut. And that front row seat J&J took is now paying added dividends with a Big Pharma licensing pact for the Newark, CA-based biotech’s $PTGX second drug in the pipeline.
J&J has come in with a $50 million upfront — a sizable amount for a preclinical program — and a full slate of milestones worth up to $940 million to gain exclusive worldwide licensing rights to Protagonist’s PTG-200. The IL-23 peptide antagonist is being built to treat Crohn’s disease, one of its top inflammatory bowel disease targets.
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