J&J, BARDA Partner On To Fight Influenza, Strike A Deal For Vaccine
Johnson & Johnson’s Janssen Research & Development LLC has now announced a partnership with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ (HHS) Office of the Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response (ASPR) for pandemic flu preparedness, focusing on a vaccine program and other flu drug candidates.
Through this partnership, the first of its kind for emerging infectious diseases and pandemic influenza preparedness, the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA), part of ASPR and Janssen will jointly oversee and share the cost of developing new approaches to address influenza.
Rather than a standard agreement, ASPR and Janssen Research and Development will collaborate under an agreement allowed by “other transaction authority” granted to HHS under the Pandemic and All Hazards Preparedness Act of 2006. The other transaction agreement provides a funding and collaboration vehicle to promote innovation in technology for advanced research and development.
Under the agreement, BARDA will provide up to $43 million during the partnership’s first year and potentially up to $273 million over five years. Janssen Research and Development will provide an equal investment.
“Speeding the development of bio-preparedness countermeasures such as new therapies and vaccines requires
that the private and public sectors join forces,” J&J’s chief scientific officer Paul Stoffels said in a statement on Friday. “No single government or company can do it alone.”Pandemic flu is “one of the greatest health threats that we face,” added BARDA director Rick Bright, who said J&J’s portfolio “includes exciting products that could greatly improve our response.”
Initially, the portfolio will include development of Janssen’s small-molecule drug, JNJ-5806. Studies suggest that this drug may interfere with an influenza virus’ ability to reproduce its genetic code and spread in the body. In clinical trials, this molecule worked against influenza virus types A and B, including influenza A viruses with pandemic potential.
The agreement builds on the collaborations that Janssen and BARDA have already established in influenza (e.g., with pimodivir, the company’s potential first-in-class inhibitor of the PB2 subunit of the influenza A polymerase complex), as well as in response to the 2014 Ebola outbreak in West Africa.
