Johnson & Johnson has seized on the cash crunch at Nanobiotix to pick up a phase 3 cancer prospect for $30 million upfront. The deal gives J&J global rights to a candidate, NBTXR3, which is designed to enhance the efficacy of radiotherapy to improve outcomes in tumor types including head and neck cancer.
NBTXR3 is a suspension of metabolically inert nano-sized particles that feature a core designed to boost the local absorption of ionizing radiation and a coating to facilitate entry into tumor cells. When injected into tumors, the particles interact with X-rays, driving the generation of more electrons than happens in conventional radiotherapy. The extra electrons could increase the death of cancer cells.
Nanobiotix is putting that idea to the test in a phase 3 clinical trial that is studying NBTXR3 in patients with locally advanced head and neck cancer. However, the French biotech has been dogged by doubts about its ability to fund the trial through to the delivery of interim data in the second half of next year.
The J&J deal goes some way to addressing those doubts. J&J is paying $30 million upfront in cash for the global rights, excluding China and some other parts of Asia, to NBTXR3. The Big Pharma may provide “in-kind regulatory and development support” worth a further $30 million “at its sole discretion.” The deal also features a $5 million investment in Nanobiotix, with a second $25 million tranche potentially following in a future financing.
Prior to the deal, Nanobiotix warned its cash could run out in the third quarter of 2023. The J&J deal, excluding the second tranche of equity investment and near-term development milestones, will extend the biotech’s cash runway into the first quarter of 2024.
Bigger paydays await Nanobiotix if the phase 3 trial, which it will continue to run, hits its endpoints and triggers a successful broader development and commercialization program. The deal is worth up to $1.8 billion in development, regulatory and sales milestones. J&J could hand over hundreds of millions more if development expands into additional indications.
Nanobiotix sees NBTXR3 as a way to enhance the effect of immunotherapies and plans to run a phase 3 trial in recurrent and metastatic head and neck cancer in combination with an anti-PD-1 drug. The plan is underpinned by evidence that the additional cancer-killing power provided by NBTXR3 primes the immune system to attack tumor cells.