J&J buying Alios for $1.75B

Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) is acquiring Alios BioPharma Inc. (South San Francisco, Calif.) for $1.75 billion in cash. The pharma receives Alios' antiviral assets, including AL-8176 to treat respiratory syncytial virus (RSV).

In July, the oral nucleoside analog met the primary endpoint of reducing viral load vs. placebo in a Phase II trial to treat RSV infection. AL-8176 was the only asset that J&J singled out in its brief announcement of the acquisition. According to BioCentury's BCIQ database, AL-8176 is one of two oral RSV treatments in Phase II testing. The other is GS-5806, an RSV fusion inhibitor from Gilead Sciences Inc. (NASDAQ:GILD). ...