Bristol-Myers Squibb, Johnson & Johnson ink deal to co-develop Factor XIa inhibitors

Bristol-Myers Squibb and Johnson & Johnson announced Monday a global collaboration on a Factor XIa (FXIa) inhibitor programme, which includes the development and commercialisation of Bristol-Myers Squibb's anticoagulant BMS-986177, for the prevention and treatment of major thrombotic conditions. In the partnership, the drugmakers said they will advance BMS-986177 to mid-stage development in the second half of this year for the study of secondary stroke prevention and create a broad development programme across multiple indications. Bristol-Myers Squibb chief scientific officer Tom Lynch remarked "by combining the strength of our companies’ extensive expertise in the development and commercialisation of cardiovascular treatments, we can maximise the potential of FXIa inhibition."

Under the agreed terms, Johnson and Johnson will pay an undisclosed upfront sum to Bristol-Myers Squibb in addition to potential development and regulatory milestone payments. The drugmakers noted they will share development costs as well as profits and losses. Additional terms of the partnership were not revealed.  

James List, global therapeutic area head of cardiovascular and metabolism at Johnson & Johnson's Janssen Research & Development unit, commented "Janssen has built deep knowledge in the anticoagulation space through our extensive experience researching and developing innovative cardiovascular therapies," continuing "we look forward to applying our expertise to this collaboration with Bristol-Myers Squibb to explore the full potential of BMS-986177 through [FXIa] inhibition to provide a wider safety window for anticoagulation than current therapies."  List added "the idea would be that this would be an oral, daily medication, and its use would be to prevent life-threatening thrombosis." 

Meanwhile, head of cardiovascular development at Bristol-Myers Squibb remarked "we knew we wanted to partner this asset because this asset has a whole range of potential indications that are complicated to develop."

Separately on Monday, Bristol-Myers Squibb unveiled Phase III study data, which showed that the combination of Opdivo (nivolumab) and Yervoy (ipilimumab) significantly cut the risk of disease progression or death in certain patients with advanced non-small-cell lung cancer in the first-line setting. 

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