J&J charts $2.58-B course

Johnson & Johnson has struck a strategic agreement with Sail Biomedicines to advance treatments for immune-mediated diseases while securing an exclusive option to acquire the biotech company for $2.58 billion.

Under the deal, J&J will make $785 million in initial payments, including a $465-million equity investment, with another $140 million tied to development milestones.

The partnership will focus on Sail’s in vivo CAR-T platform, with the potential to expand the technology across additional therapeutic targets.

J&J also completed its $1-billion acquisition of Firefly Bio, adding the biotech company’s Firelink DAC platform for KRAS-driven tumors to its oncology pipeline.