Achillion down after J&J drops HCV compound

Achillion Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ:ACHN) lost $1.08 (22%) to $3.83 Monday after Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) terminated a 2015 deal to develop and commercialize HCV therapies, including triplet therapy JNJ-4178. J&J said it decided to discontinue development of JNJ-4178 “in light of the increasing availability of a number of highly effective therapies addressing the medical need in hepatitis C.”

J&J says it will shift its hepatitis R&D efforts to discovering a functional cure for HBV (see BioCentury, Aug. 11)...