BioCentury
ARTICLE | Company News

Alios, J&J deal

October 6, 2014 7:00 AM UTC

Johnson & Johnson is acquiring Alios for about $1.8 billion in cash. The pharma receives Alios' antiviral assets, including AL-8176 to treat respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) infection. 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, Foster City, Calif.).

Alios' pipeline includes a preclinical RSV nucleoside analog, AL-8112. Alios also has an HCV pipeline that includes nucleotide NS5B polymerase inhibitor ALS-2200 ( VX-135) and two unnamed preclinical candidates. In 2011, Alios granted Vertex Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ:VRTX, Boston, Mass.) exclusive, worldwide rights to ALS-2200. In May, Vertex said it would exit the HCV business and seek to out-license VX-135. J&J and GlaxoSmithKline plc (LSE:GSK; NYSE:GSK, London, U.K.) have each tested VX-135 in combination with their own HCV therapies (see BioCentury, June 13, 2011). ...