BioCentury
ARTICLE | Company News

J&J launches Israeli incubator, announces more deals

January 9, 2014 2:08 AM UTC

Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) launched a new Israeli biotech incubator and announced eight new deals out of its regional innovation centers. J&J partnered with the Israeli government, Takeda Pharmaceutical Co. Ltd. (Tokyo:4502), and OrbiMed Israel Partners to establish the incubator, which will be operational early this year and will house and provide seed funding and support for about 12 companies at a time.

Among the eight deals, J&J's Boston Innovation Center partnered with Scholar Rock LLC (Cambridge, Mass.) to discover and develop niche activators targeting transforming growth factor (TGF) beta 1 (TGFB1) for autoimmune diseases and cancer. Scholar Rock will receive research funding and is eligible for option payments and milestones, plus royalties. J&J has an exclusive option to license worldwide development and commercialization rights to resulting products. The innovation center also partnered with the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center to develop personalized immunotherapies for cancer. ...