Johnson and Johnson forms alliance with Catalyst

Catalyst Biosciences has announced that it has signed a collaboration agreement with Centocor Research & Development, a Johnson & Johnson company, for the discovery and development of engineered protease therapeutics.

In this deal, Centocor will support discovery research and preclinical development of Alterase drug candidates from Catalyst against inflammatory disease and one other target, with the firm retaining an option to expand the agreement to cover a third target.

Under the terms of the agreement, Catalyst will receive an initial payment of $11 million (5.6 million pounds) as a combination of cash and an equity investment from Johnson & Johnson Development Corporation, in addition to two years’ worth of research funding.

Nassim Usman, chief executive officer of Catalyst Biosciences, said: “We are very pleased to collaborate with Centocor, a leading developer of biologic therapies, to employ our Alterase drug discovery engine against high-value targets.”

He added that the firm was also happy to welcome the presence of Johnson & Johnson Development Corporation to its top group of investors.

In January 2007, Catalyst signed two research and licensing agreement with Catalyst also relating to its proprietary Alterase therapeutics platform worth a potential $100 million plus royalties dependent on sales.