Astellas, Janssen end autoimmune deal

The Janssen Biotech Inc. unit of Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) terminated its 2012 deal with Astellas Pharma Inc. (Tokyo:4503) for autoimmune disease treatment ASP015K. Janssen, which had licensed ex-Japanese rights to the oral Janus kinase-1 (JAK-1) inhibitor in 2012, will return all rights to Astellas on Jan. 15.

Astellas received $65 million up front and no milestone payments, and there was no termination fee, according to J&J spokesperson Brian Kenney. He said J&J made a "strategic portfolio decision" to end the deal. ...