Dive Brief:
- Bayer and Johns Hopkins have signed a 5-year R&D contract to study retinal diseases.
- The teams will focus on AMD and diabetic macular edema.
- Bayer will have exclusive rights to the drug candidates that come out of the study.
Dive Insight:
For the first quarter of 2015, Bayer was happy to post 55% growth for Eylea, but otherwise, the company has very little in the pipeline in the way of ophthalmologic treatments. The two teams are focusing on AMD, as well as diabetic mancular edema as disease targets. On the business side, Bayer will retain exclusive rights to option any and all drug candidates developed as part of the research agreement.