J&J buys Aragon’s prostate cancer arm

Hormonally-driven cancer drug discovery specialist Aragon Pharmaceuticals has been bought by Johnson & Johnson. The deal covers Aragon’s androgen receptor antagonist programme, including an advanced drug candidate for prostate cancer.

Androgen has spun out the rest of the company to form Seragon Pharmaceuticals, which will develop breast cancer drugs that work by degrading oestrogen receptors.

J&J paid $650 million (£417 million) up front, and will pay up to $350 million more if various milestones are reached. The androgen receptor antagonist programme will be managed by J&J’s subsidiary Janssen.