Janssen and Sevion announce drug research collaboration

Janssen has entered into a new drug research collaboration with Sevion Therapeutics that will utilise an innovation discovery platform.

Sevion will ally with Janssen subsidiary CNA Development to discover antibodies using Sevion's spatially addressed library platform, with the aim of identifying new treatments against multiple targets in several therapeutic areas.

The companies will conduct research on antibodies discovered by Sevion, with Janssen holding an option to an exclusive license to develop, manufacture and commercialise candidates resulting from the collaboration.

Sevion's platform enables discovery of antibodies against proteins that cannot be easily purified in functional form, while its addressed libraries allow screening directly on the cell surface, thus opening up challenging transmembrane targets to antibody discovery.

Ronald Martell, chief executive officer of Sevion, said: "We are excited to collaborate with Janssen, a recognised leader in antibody development and commercialisation. This partnership applies the Sevion platform for discovering unique antibodies against important therapeutic targets."

Janssen also recently announced a new partnership with Gilead Sciences that will see them jointly develop a treatment for HIV.