Johnson & Johnson agreed to pay US$1.75 billion in cash to buy privately held Alios BioPharma Inc, which is developing a drug for a respiratory viral infection for which there is no approved treatment.J&J, whose shares were marginally higher at US$106.71 in morning trading, said Alios would also give it access to a portfolio of drugs targeting other viral infections.
J&J has been increasing its focus on treatments for infectious diseases, having signed two other deals earlier this year –one for the maintenance treatment of people with HIV and the second to treat influenza.
Alios's experimental drug, AL-8176, to treat infants with respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) is currently in mid-stage trails. In July, the company reported positive results from a similar study in adults. RSV is the most common cause of an inflammation of the airways in the lung and pneumonia in infants under the age of one, according to the US Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).