March 30 (Reuters) – Royalty Pharma said on Monday it has signed a $500 million research and development agreement with Johnson & Johnson to advance an experimental antibody treatment for autoimmune diseases.
Shares of Royalty Pharma were up 1.4% in premarket trading, while those of J&J rose nearly 0.7%.
* The co-funding agreement, covering 2026 and 2027, willsupport the development of JNJ-4804, an experimental co-antibodytherapy that targets IL 23 and TNF, two immune pathways involvedin autoimmune inflammation. * Royalty Pharma CEO Pablo Legorreta said the drug holdspromise for patients with chronic immune-mediated diseases andthat the agreement builds on the company’s investments inimmunology, including earlier medicines targeting TNF. * The biopharmaceutical investor receives royalties onmore than 35 commercial products, including Biogen’s Tysabri andJ&J’s Tremfya – both targeting autoimmune disorders.
(Reporting by Kunal Das in Bengaluru; Editing by Diti Pujara)
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