Search­ing for the next block­buster to fol­low Darza­lex, J&J finds a $150M an­ti-CD38 drug from part­ner Gen­mab

Now that J&J and Gen­mab have thrust Darza­lex on­to the reg­u­la­to­ry or­bit for first-line use in mul­ti­ple myelo­ma, the part­ners are lin­ing up a deal for a next-gen fol­low-on to the lead­ing CD38 drug.

Janssen — J&J’s biotech unit — has its eyes on Hexa­Body-CD38, a pre­clin­i­cal com­pound gen­er­at­ed on Gen­mab’s tech plat­form de­signed to make drugs more po­tent via hexa­m­er­iza­tion.

Gen­mab is foot­ing the bill on stud­ies in mul­ti­ple myelo­ma and dif­fuse large B-cell lym­phoma; once it com­pletes clin­i­cal proof of con­cept, Janssen has the op­tion to li­cense the drug for a $150 mil­lion ex­er­cise fee. There’s al­so $125 mil­lion worth of mile­stones in play.

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