Johnson & Johnson, opening new tabs on Tuesday, has agreed to purchase exclusive rights for an innovative treatment for skin disorders from privately owned Numab Therapeutics for about $1.25 billion. This is the second acquisition with an eczema-focused business this month.
J&J will acquire a piece of Numab supported by the parent company of Danish drug maker Novo Nordisk and open a new tab with rights to the treatment for eczema. It is also known as atopic skin dermatitis.
The disease, which impacts 30 million people across the United States annually, was the subject of J&J’s purchase of $850 million of the drug company Proteologix last month.
J&J is a company that has recently shifted its emphasis to medical devices and medicines. It has signed major contracts this year ahead of biosimilars’ upcoming competition for the blockbuster treatment psoriasis Stelara, which is expected to launch in 2025.
The company announced it had the flexibility to contemplate various transactions after purchasing the maker of heart devices Shockwave Medical, opening new tabs worth $13.1 billion.
The Numab deal is expected to conclude in the second half of 2024.
Numab’s drug NM26 has just completed its testing in an early-stage clinical trial. It is part of a class of medications called bi-specific antibodies, synthetic proteins that simultaneously attack two different diseases.
Atopic dermatitis can be described as a chronic skin condition that irritates the barrier to the skin, making it dry, itchy, and prone to infections on the skin.
