OICR, Novera and Janssen Biotech collaborate to develop haematological cancer drug

By collaborating with University Health Network, the biotechnology company Novera will discover and develop novel therapeutic compounds identified through OICR’s drug discovery program.

The company will coordinate the collaboration with Janssen under a license option and exclusive license agreement.

The agreement, facilitated by Johnson & Johnson Innovation, will see Novera receive an upfront payment and make it eligible to receive various pre-clinical, clinical, regulatory and commercialization payments up to a total of about C$450m ($346m).

Janssen has been granted an exclusive option to license candidate drugs that have been identified through the collaboration, for all human uses globally.

The company will also take up responsibility for subsequent pre-clinical, clinical and commercial development upon exercising of its option.

As part of the alliance, OICR will identify, fund and supports oncology innovations in a bid to enhance clinical practice.

The research institute will also assemble and coordinate the intellectual resources, management to drive anti-cancer discoveries by leveraging the research community within Ontario.

Established by FACIT, Novera will advance the therapeutics against molecular targets in difficult-to-treat hematological malignancies.

OICR president Tom Hudson said: "Janssen is an excellent partner for this exciting program and we welcome the opportunity to leverage their distinguished development expertise in haematological cancers.

"Patients in Ontario and worldwide will benefit from this collaborative and innovative model for translational research."

Image: Janssen has been granted an exclusive option to license candidate drugs identified through the collaboration. Photo: courtesy of amenic181/FreeDigitalPhotos.net