Arrowhead Pharmaceuticals to Work with Janssen on Hepatitis B Treatment

   By Allison Prang

Arrowhead Pharmaceuticals Inc. (ARWR) and Janssen Pharmaceuticals Inc. have agreed to work together on a treatment for Hepatitis B, a deal that could provide Arrowhead with as much as about $1.6 billion in payments.

The companies decided on a license and collaboration agreement where they will work on the development and commercialization of a treatment in Arrowhead's pipeline for treating Hepatitis B known as ARO-HBV, Arrowhead said in a news release Thursday.

Janssen, part of the Janssen Pharmaceutical Companies of Johnson & Johnson, gets the exclusive license for the treatment program, Arrowhead said.

Arrowhead also said the two companies have agreed to possibly work on as many as three more RNA interference therapeutics. Arrowhead could get up to about $1.9 billion in payments related to that work.

Arrowhead will be paid $175 million upfront, it said. The firm will also get an equity investment of $75 million at $23 a share from Johnson & Johnson Innovation, or JJDC Inc. Shares of Arrowhead, up 404% year to date, rose 16% in premarket trading Thursday.

Write to Allison Prang at allison.prang@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

October 04, 2018 08:28 ET (12:28 GMT)

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