An entry sign to the Johnson & Johnson campus shows their logo in Irvine, California on August 28, 2019.
Mark Ralston | AFP | Getty Images
Johnson & Johnson on Monday said it should pay $2 billion in money to accumulate Ambrx Biopharma, a drugmaker specializing in one in every of the most well liked areas of cancer treatment.
Ambrx is aiming to focus on multiple cancers with drugs called antibody-drug conjugates, or ADCs, that are described by researchers as “guided missiles” to directly goal and kill cancer cells and minimize damage to healthy tissue.
The deal, which was announced on the primary day of the annual JPMorgan Healthcare Conference, makes J&J the most recent drugmaker to bet on ADCs following similar moves by other large rivals – including Pfizer, AbbVie and Merck – during the last 12 months.Â
The acquisition also comes as J&J scrambles to fill a revenue hole that is approaching in 2025, when its top-selling drug Stelara, which is used to treat a long-lasting autoimmune disease called psoriasis, is anticipated to face generic competition.Â
“Ambrx’s pipeline and ADC platform present exciting future opportunities to deliver enhanced, precision biologics as we glance to remodel the treatment of cancer and improve patients’ lives,” Dr. Yusri Elsayed, J&J’s global therapeutic area head of oncology, said in a release.
Under the terms of the deal, J&J can pay $28 a share for Ambrx, or about double the firm’s Friday closing price of $13.63. J&J expects to shut the deal in the primary half of 2024.
Shares of Ambrx nearly doubled in early trading Monday to just below that purchase price, while J&J’s stock was down.Â
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