HQ Team
January 14, 2025: Johnson & Johnson will acquire Intra-Cellular Therapies Inc., a biopharmaceutical company developing drugs for central nervous system disorders, for $14.6 billion, according to a J&J statement.
Johnson & Johnson will fund the transaction through cash and debt. The company will pay $132 a share in cash. The deal is expected to close by the end of this year.
The acquisition includes oral drug Caplyta (lumateperone), the first and only USFDA-approved treatment for bipolar I and II depression as a supplement and monotherapy. It is also approved for the treatment of schizophrenia in adults.
The medicine has the potential to become a standard of care for most common depressive disorders, and a new drug application has been submitted to the US Food and Drug Administration for it to be used as an adjunctive treatment for major depressive disorder, according to the statement.
$5 billion-plus potential
If approved Caplyta has the potential to be the first treatment for major depressive disorder and depressive symptoms associated with bipolar I and II in more than 15 years.
“Caplyta adds to Johnson & Johnson’s robust lineup of therapies with $5 billion-plus potential in peak year sales, and further solidifies sales growth above analyst expectations through the remainder of the decade.”
The acquisition also promises a clinical-stage pipeline “with best-in-disease potential in generalised anxiety disorder and Alzheimer’s disease-related psychosis and agitation.”
Johnson & Johnson will provide details on any potential impact to Adjusted Earnings Per Share from the transaction when it provides its initial full-year 2025 guidance during the fourth quarter earnings announcement on Wednesday, January 22, 2025.
Anxiety disorder
The acquisition also includes ITI-1284, a promising phase 2 compound being studied in generalized anxiety disorder and Alzheimer’s disease-related psychosis and agitation, as well as a clinical-stage pipeline that” further complements and strengthens Johnson & Johnson’s current areas of focus.”
In two end-stage trials, Caplyta, along with antidepressants, has “demonstrated a statistically significant and clinically meaningful” improvement in depressive symptoms, according to the statement.
Additional late-stage trials are underway with the drug to treat bipolar I disorder with manic episodes or manic episodes with mixed features.
More than one billion people worldwide, or one in every eight people, are living with a neuropsychiatric or neurodegenerative disorder.
2.4 million with schizophrenia in US
In the US, about 2.4 million adults live with schizophrenia, a serious, chronic mental illness that causes distortions in thinking, perceptions, emotions, and behaviour.
About six million adults live with bipolar disorder, a chronic, lifelong illness that causes dramatic shifts in a person’s mood, energy, and ability to think clearly, making it difficult for patients to carry out daily activities.