Janssen Biotech, one of the Janssen Pharmaceutical Companies of Johnson & Johnson (J&J), has expanded its collaboration with X-Chem, a Waltham, Massachusetts-based privately-owned biotechnology company, to discover new drug leads for treating inflammatory disease. The expanded deal builds on an existing discovery and license partnership that the companies entered into in December 2014, facilitated by Johnson & Johnson Innovation, the unit within J&J that focuses on accelerating innovation and forming collaborations between entrepreneurs and J&J’s global healthcare businesses.

This latest agreement will apply to the DNA-encoded X-Chem platform for identifying modulators for disease targets, following the licensing of multiple series of X-Chem-discovered small molecules by Janssen in 2016. Under the expanded agreement, X-Chem receives upfront payment and research funding and is eligible to receive additional payments and royalties based on the achievement of clinical, regulatory, and commercial milestones. Financial details were not disclosed.

Source: X-Chem