1. Scrip

Canny Clozel Gets Another $230m From J&J For Idorsia Hypertension Drug

 
• By Kevin Grogan

Idorsia, the Swiss company spun out of Actelion after the latter was bought by J&J, is to get another windfall from the US major which has triggered an option to co-develop the Phase III-ready drug aprocitentan.

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A little extra: J&J is getting another drug developed in Actelion's labs • Source: Shutterstock

Following the sale of Actelion Pharmaceuticals Ltd. for $30bn to Johnson & Johnson in the summer, the new venture set up by the former's founder Jean-Paul Clozel - Idorsia Pharmaceuticals Ltd. - is banking another $230m from the healthcare giant after signing a deal for the investigational hypertension drug aprocitentan.

Clozel drove a hard bargain when negotiating the sale of Actelion and managed to get an extra $1bn out of J&J to set up Idorsia, where he is CEO, with the earlier-stage assets left over from the acquisition. One of them was aprocitentan, previously known as ACT-132577, an orally active dual endothelin receptor antagonist (ERA)

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