J&J unveils top pipeline prospects, with main focus on cancer

Johnson & Johnson has shone the spotlight on the most promising drugs in its pipeline, saying it plans to file 10 major drugs between now and 2023. The plans were among a day-long business review, which detailed the latest prospects being developed by Johnson & Johnson’s pharma unit, Janssen. Included on the list are the company’s two big approvals this year – Spravato (esketamine) nasal spray for treatment-resistant depression, and Balversa (erdafitinib). Among the six cancer drugs on the list is the PARP drug niraparib, originally developed by Tesaro, but acquired by GlaxoSmithKline and already approved in breast cancer. The two big pharmas are now developing the drug jointly in prostate cancer as a result of a collaboration agreement between Tesaro and J&J signed in April 2016 before the GSK buyout early this year. J&J also has its own CAR-T therapy – JNJ-4528 targets BCMA, which has sprung from a partnership with China’s Legend Biotech signed in December 2017. The European Medicines Agency last month designated the drug as a “priority medicine” (PRIME), meaning the regulator will fast track it through clinical development and grant a fast review if clinical data looks strong enough. Also in cancer there is lazertinib, an EGFR tyrosine-kinase inhibitor in development for non-small cell lung cancer.