Vedanta collaborates with Janssen on IBD drug candidate VE202

US microbiome company Vedanta Biosciences has signed a license agreement with Janssen Biotech, a subsidiary of health care giant Johnson & Johnson (NYSE: JNJ), for Vedanta's lead microbiome pharmaceutical candidate (VE202), which has demonstrated efficacy in published preclinical studies using models of autoimmune disease.

The lead pharmaceutical candidate is one of the first potential drugs to emerge from the growing body of research demonstrating the role of the microbiome in human diseases.

Under terms of the accord, which was facilitated by the Johnson & Johnson Innovation Center in Boston, Janssen will develop and seek to commercialize the pharmaceutical candidate in inflammatory bowel disease (IBD).