Horgen ZH/New Brunswick – Numab is selling its subsidiary Yellow Jersey Therapeutics to Johnson & Johnson. The pharmaceutical company acquires all assets related to the biospecific antibody NM26 for the treatment of atopic dermatitis for 1.25 billion dollars.
Numab Therapeutics AG, based in Horgen, is selling its wholly-owned subsidiary Yellow Jersey Therapeutics to the North American pharmaceutical group Johnson & Johnson, based in the US state of New Jersey. According to a press release, the agreement now concluded provides for a purchase price of 1.25 billion dollars in cash for the subsidiary founded in 2024. The transaction is expected to take place in the second half of 2024.
It comprises all assets in connection with NM26. The biospecific antibody for the treatment of atopic dermatitis, also known as eczema or neurodermatitis, is about to enter clinical phase 2.
The antibody targets specific type I and type II receptors and thus the characteristic features of the pathophysiology of this disease. It was discovered and developed using Numab's MATCH technology platform. It is expected to produce a new series of multispecific antibody drug candidates.
"This transaction validates the power of our discovery and development platform and its potential to deliver multiple novel multispecific antibodies to large, underserved patient populations," Numab founder and CEO David Urech is quoted as saying. "Our partnership strategy, which has included biopharma partners such as Kaken, Eisai, Boehringer Ingelheim and Ono from the outset, has been instrumental in realizing the value of our platform and will continue to be key to advancing our potentially transformative immunology and oncology programs." ce/mm