Janssen Cilag has bought German biotherapeutics firm CorImmun, to acquire the latter’s small cyclic peptide candidate COR-1. The acquisition deal includes an up-front payment and a future clinical milestone. COR-1 is in early clinical development for the potential treatment of heart failure. The peptide is designed to improve heart function by blocking autoimmune β-1 adrenergic receptor-stimulating antibodies.
"COR-1 is an early-stage development compound with a novel mechanism for treating heart failure that has the potential to improve heart function by suppressing antibodies that can exacerbate this condition," remarks Peter M. DiBattiste, M.D., global therapuetic area head for cardiovascular disease and metabolism and Janssen Resaerch and Development.
CorImmun was established as a spin-out from the universities of Wuerzburg and of Tuebingen, and is focused on developing drugs for treating heart failure and atherosclerosis. The company has previously completed a clinical trial with the platelet adhesion inhibitor, ravacept/PR-15 (soluble dimeric glycoprotein VI-Fc fusion protein), in healthy volunteers.