Janssen Pharmaceuticals acquires XO1 Limited

Today (March 19th), Janssen Pharmaceuticals, subsidiary of Johnson & Johnson, announced that it has acquired XO1 Limited, a privately-held asset-centric virtual biopharmaceutical company originally founded to develop the anti-thrombin antibody ichorcumab.

Financial details of the agreement have not been disclosed as of yet.

Ichorcumab is a recombinant human antibody created to imitate the activity of those created naturally in the body and appears to be able to produce an anticoagulated state without predisposition to bleeding.

Dr Peter DiBattiste, global development head of cardiovascular at Janssen Research & Development, commented: "Ichorcumab provides an excellent complement to the Janssen cardiovascular portfolio.

"Given Janssen's leadership in the fields of anticoagulation and biologics, we are well positioned to explore the potential of this next generation anticoagulant."

Ichorcumab was initially developed by Cambridge University Hospitals and Cambridge University, with support from Cambridge Enterprise, which is the educational establishment's commercialisation branch.

The technology was licensed to XO1 Limited in order to the take its development towards the clinic. The firm was originally launched by Index Ventures as an asset-centric company, with Johnson & Johnson Innovation as an investor.

Patrick Verheyen, head of Johnson & Johnson Innovation in London, said that the acquisition demonstrates how the firm's global strategy enables a local hands-on approach that supports regional life science ecosystems.