J&J to buy cancer drug technology developer Firefly Bio for US$1 billion

JOHNSON & Johnson said on Monday (Jun 8) it will acquire biotech Firefly Bio for US$1 billion in cash, as it looks to expand its cancer drug pipeline.

Firefly’s Firelink platform uses antibodies to deliver a protein-degrading drug directly into cancer cells, an approach J&J says could help attack tumours while sparing more healthy tissue than existing treatments.

The platform for tumours with a mutation in a gene known as KRAS “bolsters Johnson & Johnson’s oncology pipeline and ambition to develop targeted medicines for the most prevalent and hard-to-treat solid tumours with high unmet need,” said the drugmaker.

“KRAS has notoriously been considered an undruggable target and patients with KRAS-driven cancers continue to face limited treatment options with survival measured in months, not years,” said John Reed, executive vice-president, innovative medicine, research & development at J&J.

The transaction is expected to close later this year. REUTERS