Johnson & Johnson (JNJ) is shelling out $1.75 billion to acquire Alios Biopharma, a private developer of therapeutics for viral diseases. Alios’ lead drug asset is compound AL-8176, an orally administered antiviral currently in phase 2 trials for respiratory syncytial virus (RSV). The smaller company’s pipeline also includes early-stage treatments for hepatitis C, like the nucleotide analog AL-335.
These “nucs” are hot ticket items: Idenix (IDIX) was acquired by Merck (MRK) for $3.9 billion in June, primarily for the company’s mid-stage nuc program. Since then, fellow developer Achillion Pharmaceuticals (ACHN) has rallied nearly 300% as investors realized the scarcity value in novel nucleotides.
Also getting traction on the deal is Novavax (NVAX), another RSV drug developer that already carries a $1 billion market capitalization. NVAX was up 3% in morning trading Tuesday.
One or more of PropThink’s contributors are long ACHN, JNJ, or MRK.
