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Cidara Therapeutics inked a deal worth up to $780 million with Johnson & Johnson to develop and commercialize Cidara’s candidate CD388 for the prevention and treatment of seasonal and pandemic influenza.
San Diego-based Cidara Therapeutics will receive an upfront payment of $27 million from Janssen, a division of J&J for the development of CD388, one of Cidara’s Cloudbreak antiviral conjugates (AVCs). Cidara, which is focusing on the development of therapeutics for serious fungal or viral infections, said CD388 has the potential to be a true universal preventative for the flu, with distinct advantages over vaccines that can be used across all populations, including the young, elderly and immunocompromised. Additionally, the company believed CD388 is capable of providing protection from all influenza strains, including seasonal and pandemic influenza A, influenza B and all major clinically characterized drug resistant influenza strains. Not only that, but Cidara suggests CD388 could provide a therapeutic role, such as the widely-used Tamiflu.
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