BRIEF—Celsius and J&J embark on R&D collaboration

Celsius Therapeutics has inked an R&D deal with Johnson & Johnson’s biotech arm, Janssen Biotech, to apply its single-cell genomics and machine learning platform to identify predictive biomarkers of response from Janssen’s VEGA study.

The Phase IIa trial is evaluating a combination therapy of Tremfya (guselkumab) and Simponi (golimumab) in people with ulcerative colitis.

As well as undisclosed payments and potential milestones, Celsius retains use of the data for its own target and drug discovery efforts.