AC Immune Strikes Potential $509 Million Development Deal

   By Marta Falconi 
 

ZURICH--Swiss biotech company AC Immune said on Monday it had struck a deal potentially worth $509 million with a unit of Johnson & Johnson (JNJ) to develop vaccines against Alzheimer's disease, the most common form of dementia.

Janssen Pharmaceuticals, Inc. will help further develop AC Immune's leading therapeutic vaccine, dubbed ACI-35, the Lausanne-based company said. The vaccine is currently in an early-stage clinical trial.

The vaccine works by stimulating the patient's immune system to fight accumulation of tau, a protein that builds up in the brain and kills neurons.

An AC Immune spokeswoman declined to say how much the company will receive in up-front payments. These tend to be small, with subsequent payments rising as a drug achieves pre-agreed milestones.

AC Immune, which is unlisted, also has a deal with Genentech, a unit of Roche Holding AG, to develop an antibody that targets another protein, beta amyloid, which is also linked to the memory-robbing disease.

Presently no treatment exists to slow the progression of Alzheimer's disease.

According to the U.N. World Health Organization, 35.6 million people have dementia worldwide, with 7.7 million new cases every year. Alzheimer's disease is the most common cause of dementia and may contribute between 60% and 70% of all cases, it said.

-Write to Marta Falconi at [e-mail]

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