Johnson & Johnson's departure from a partnership with Capricor Therapeutics Inc. on the cardiac progenitor cell therapy CAP-1002 means the biotech will miss out on a significant revenue opportunity, but the company thinks it remains well positioned to move the candidate forward in a smaller indication, cardiomyopathy associated with Duchenne muscular dystrophy.
Los Angeles-based Capricor revealed July 6 that Janssen Biotech Inc. had elected not to take an option under an agreement signed in 2014 to advance CAP-1002 (allogeneic cardiosphere-derived cells) as a regenerative therapy for patients who sustain cardiac scar tissue following a heart attack. [See Deal] The J&J affiliate had paid $12
