J&J Buys Option On ViaCyte Therapy

Janssen, the pharmaceuticals arm of Johnson & Johnson, will pay $20 million for an option to license ViaCyte’s type 1 diabetes treatment VC-01. People with type 1 diabetes cannot produce insulin and must take daily insulin injections. As an alternative, ViaCyte’s VC-01 comprises an implantable delivery system containing stem cells engineered to mature into functional insulin-producing islet cells. ViaCyte says the influx of cash, combined with a recent round of private equity, will support the first study of the treatment in people with type 1 diabetes. Last year, J&J was among a group of investors that injected $10.6 million into the San Diego-based biotech.