BioCentury
ARTICLE | Company News

Furiex Pharmaceuticals, J&J deal

November 7, 2011 8:00 AM UTC

Johnson & Johnson's Janssen Pharmaceutica N.V. unit did not exercise an option to regain rights to gastrointestinal compound MuDelta from partner Furiex. According to Furiex, Janssen made the decision after evaluating the "strategic fit" within its late-stage pipeline. Janssen gained the option in 2009 when it out-licensed the compound to PPD Inc. (NASDAQ:PPDI, Wilmington, N.C.), which spun out its compound partnering business into Furiex. Janssen will be eligible for $125 million in regulatory and sales milestones and tiered mid- to high-single digit royalties.

Furiex said it reached an agreement with FDA for a Phase III trial of MuDelta in diarrhea-predominant irritable bowel syndrome (IBS-D) after an End-of-Phase II meeting with the agency. Furiex declined to comment on a timeline to begin the trial. In September, the locally-acting mu opioid receptor agonist and delta opioid receptor antagonist met the primary endpoint in a Phase II trial to treat IBS-D (see BioCentury, Sept. 12). ...