Johnson & Johnson and Elan to collaborate on Alzheimer's research

Johnson & Johnson (J&J) is to take an 18.4% stake in Irish pharmaceutical company Elan Corporation to acquire the assets and rights to its Alzheimer's Immunotherapy Program (AIP Program), through a newly formed company.

J&J, through this affiliate, will invest US$1bn in Elan in exchange for newly issued American Depositary Receipts (ADRs).

The US drugmaker also plans to commit up to US$500m initially to continue Elan's development of bapineuzumab, a treatment that is being evaluated for slowing the progression of Alzheimer's disease, as well as other compounds.

Elan will receive a 49.9% equity interest in the newly formed J&J company, with J&J taking the remaining 50.1%, and will be entitled to a 49.9% share of the profits plus royalty payments on sales under the AIP Program collaboration with Wyeth.

Bapineuzumab, administered intravenously once every three months, is currently in Phase 3 clinical trials. A subcutaneous formulation, administered once a week, is currently in Phase 2 trials. In addition, a vaccine for Alzheimer's disease (ACC-001) is also under development.

In the US, 5.3 million people have Alzheimer's disease. The costs of this and other dementias reach more than $148bn annually, according to the Alzheimer's Association.

Husseini Manji, global therapeutic head, Neuroscience at J&J Pharmaceutical Research & Development, said: "The transaction will be a key component in achieving our vision to develop treatments that target underlying disease biology. We expect to focus our resources on bringing the AIP Program to fruition as quickly as possible because of its potential to slow the progression of Alzheimer's disease."

Dale Schenk, executive vice president and cso of Elan, added: "After 20 years of following the science and advancing this technology into the latest stages of clinical development, it is our responsibility to ensure that this therapy, upon further clinical and regulatory progress, may be made available to the broadest range of patients globally. The capabilities of J&J will help in achieving that goal."

The boards of directors of both Johnson & Johnson and Elan have approved the transaction.