ViaCyte, Janssen ink deal over stem cell-derived islet replacement therapy for type 1 diabetes

US regenerative medicine company ViaCyte Inc said Thursday it had signed a rights deal with Janssen Research & Development LLC, part of US Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ), under which Janssen gets a future right to assess a transaction associated with ViaCyte's VC-01 candidate cell replacement therapy being developed for Type 1 diabetes.

This right will be valid during the initial assessment of the clinical efficacy of VC-01.

ViaCyte has also obtained USD 20 million (EUR 15.1m), including a rights fee and a note convertible into equity at a later date, from Janssen and Johnson & Johnson Development Corporation (JJDC), which is an investor in ViaCyte.

This payment, along with a recent private equity financing transaction of USD 5.4 million, provides further resources for the additional development of VC-01 for insulin-dependent diabetes. ViaCyte intends to utilise the proceeds mainly to expedite the clinical development of the product candidate.

As reported earlier this week, the US FDA accepted the company's Investigational New Drug (IND) application to start a Phase I/II study of VC-01 in Type 1 diabetes. The firm intends to commence soon the trial, which will investigate the safety and efficacy of the product.

VC-01 contains pancreatic progenitor cells, named PEC-01 cells, which are derived from a proprietary human embryonic stem cell line, encapsulated in the company's Encaptra device. Upon implantation under the skin, the PEC-01 cells are intended to mature and additionally differentiate into insulin-producing beta and other endocrine cells regulating blood glucose in a similar or identical way to the islets that are normally present in the endocrine pancreas.

(USD 1.0 = EUR 0.754)

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ViaCyte, Janssen ink deal over stem cell-derived islet replacement therapy for type 1 diabetes