J&J jumps on the RNA band­wag­on, ink­ing dis­cov­ery deal with Remix for a po­ten­tial­ly new class of drugs

Among the hottest fields in drug dis­cov­ery, RNA ther­a­peu­tics have tak­en the world of Big Phar­ma by storm. J&J, not nor­mal­ly the tip of the spear on emerg­ing sci­ence, is now join­ing its peers in tak­ing out a bet on the fu­ture of RNA — this time with a Boston-area biotech tar­get­ing the pre-trans­la­tion process.

J&J will pay $45 mil­lion in up­front cash and down­stream mile­stones for up to three can­di­dates from Remix Ther­a­peu­tics, a biotech work­ing on small mol­e­cule drugs to al­ter RNA pro­cess­ing be­fore pro­tein trans­la­tion, the part­ners said Thurs­day. In all, the deal could be worth more than $1 bil­lion, the com­pa­nies said.

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