Dive Brief:
- Johnson & Johnson has invested $225 million upfront in a deal with Achillion, which has multiple hepatitis C drugs in development.
- J&J is assuming responsibility for all development costs for Achillion's hepattis C drugs.
- The deal could be worth as much as $1.1 billion, however, investors seem to be disappointed as the stock has fallen significantly since the news came out. At one point, it was down as much as 10%.
Dive Insight:
According to Achillion's website: "Achillion is committed to developing highly efficacious, once daily oral therapies for the treatment of chronic hepatitis C (HCV) that are safe, well tolerated, and achieve a treatment duration of 8 weeks or less. Achillion is currently developing multiple direct-acting antiviral (DAA) candidates with complementary mechanisms of action for the treatment of HCV that could potentially attain this goal."
Many had hoped that Achillion would either be a contender in and of itself, or be purchased outright by a bigger company, so the deal with J&J represents an in-between approach that has left some investors cold. Achillion, which has a 52-week range of $2.65 to $16.87, is currently trading at $9.27.