Janssen expanding eye disease portfolio

Janssen Pharmaceuticals, a Johnson & Johnson (NYSE: JNJ) company, has acquired rights to Hemera Biosciences’ investigational gene therapy HMR59, administered as a one-time, outpatient, intravitreal injection to help preserve vision in patients with geographic atrophy, a late-stage and severe form of age-related macular degeneration (AMD).

Financial terms of the transaction with Hemera Biosciences, a privately-owned biotechnology company, are not being disclosed.

Patients with AMD often have low levels of CD59, a protein that protects the retina from damage caused by an essential part of the body's natural immune response called "complement." In geographic atrophy, an overactivity of complement destroys cells in the macula, the central part of the retina responsible for central vision and seeing fine details, and results in a relentless progression to blindness. HMR59 is designed to increase the ability of retina cells to make a soluble form of CD59, helping to prevent further damage to the retina and preserve vision.