J&J And Boehringer Sign Diabetes Deals

Johnson & Johnson’s Ortho-McNeil-Janssen Pharmaceuticals unit has signed diabetes drug development pacts with Diamyd Medical and Metabolex. Ortho will pay Diamyd $45 million up front for rights to develop the pharmaceutical protein rhGAD65, which is in Phase III trials as a treatment for newly diagnosed type 1 diabetes patients. Meanwhile, Ortho will pay Metabolex an undisclosed upfront payment as part of a development and license agreement involving compounds for the treatment of type 2 diabetes. Separately, Boehringer Ingelheim will pay Neurocrine Biosciences $10 million for rights to develop small molecules that activate GPR119, a G-protein-coupled receptor, as a way of treating type 2 diabetes.