New Brunswick, N.J. — Johnson & Johnson said it has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire Firefly Bio, Inc., a biotechnology company developing a degrader antibody conjugate platform, for $1 billion in cash.
The company said the acquisition will expand its oncology pipeline and strengthen its work in targeting pan-KRAS and other drivers of hard-to-treat cancers.
Firefly Bio is advancing its proprietary Firelink degrader antibody conjugate platform, which is designed to deliver a highly selective protein degrader to tumor cells while avoiding healthy cells. Johnson & Johnson said the platform could help overcome limitations of existing therapeutic approaches for KRAS-driven tumors and other difficult-to-treat solid tumors.
“KRAS has notoriously been considered an undruggable target and patients with KRAS-driven cancers continue to face limited treatment options with survival measured in months, not years,” said John Reed, M.D., Ph.D., Executive Vice President, Innovative Medicine, Research & Development, Johnson & Johnson. “We believe the proprietary Firelink™ platform will overcome the limitations of current treatments and diversify our pipeline with preclinical candidates for treating multiple types of solid tumors.”
Johnson & Johnson said antibody-based therapies have continued to evolve through monoclonal antibodies, bi- and multi-specifics, antibody drug conjugates and other approaches. The company said Firefly Bio’s technology complements its existing expertise in antibody engineering and could support development of more durable treatments for patients with cancer.
The transaction is expected to close later this year, subject to regulatory approvals and other customary closing conditions. Johnson & Johnson said the accounting treatment will be communicated on or before the close of the transaction.
