Johnson & Johnson's (NYSE:JNJ) pharma unit Janssen entered into a worldwide collaboration and license agreement with Cellular Biomedicine Group Inc to develop, manufacture and commercialize next-generation chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T-cell therapies for B-cell malignancies.
The company said these investigational CD20-directed autologous CAR-Ts demonstrated favorable overall and complete response rates in Phase 1 studies in patients with relapsed/refractory non-Hodgkin's lymphoma (NHL) in China, with the majority of study participants having diffuse large B-cell lymphoma.
Under the terms of the agreement, Cellular Biomedicine will grant Janssen a worldwide license to develop and commercialize the CAR-T assets, except in Greater China.
The companies will negotiate an option for Janssen to commercialize the products in the China territory.
Janssen will make an upfront payment of $245 million.
Johnson & Johnson estimates that this collaboration will have an annual approximate 10-cent negative impact on EPS in 2023 and 2024.
Johnson & Johnson is developing Carvykti (ciltacabtagene autoleucel), a genetically modified autologous T-cell immunotherapy in collaboration with Legend Biotech Corporation (NASDAQ:LEGN) for relapsed/refractory multiple myeloma.
Many of J&J's Big Pharma peers have pressed ahead with their CAR-T ambitions, including Novartis AG's (NYSE:NVS) Kymriah or Gilead Sciences Inc (NASDAQ:GILD), which is exploring the possibility of allogeneic or "off the shelf" options.
Price Action: JNJ shares are up 0.39% at $164.23 on the last check Tuesday.
© 2025 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved.
