Medical product group Johnson & Johnson acquired US-based drug delivery technology developer Taris Biomedical on Friday for an undisclosed amount, allowing pharmaceutical company Bristol-Myers Squibb to exit.
Taris has created a silicon-based drug delivery system intended for use with therapeutics for bladder disease, including related cancers. The TAR-200 device enables medication to be continuously released into the bladder, and the technology stems from research at MIT.
Peter Lebowitz, therapeutic area head of oncology for Johnson & Johnson subsidiary Janssen Research & Development, said: “The Taris technology provides a first-in-class clinical stage platform to evaluate novel, locally-delivered therapeutics for patients with localised bladder cancer.
“Together with the Taris team, we look forward to advancing complete regimens to push towards early interception of bladder cancer with the goal of improving outcomes for patients and, ultimately, delivering cures.”
Bristol-Myers Squibb took part in the company’s $25m series B round, which was led by venture capital fund Yonghua Capital and also backed by Flagship Pioneering, Polaris Partners, RA Capital Management and Norma Investments, in late 2017.
Originally founded in 2008, Taris sold its lead clinical program to Allergan for an amount that could eventually top $587m, and it relaunched in 2015 with $32m in series A funding from Flagship Pioneering (then Flagship Ventures), Polaris Venture Partners and RA Capital Management.
The company had previously raised more than $30m from backers including Flagship Ventures, Polaris Venture Partners, Third Rock Ventures and Flybridge Capital Partners, though it had stopped listing the latter two as investors on its website pre-acquisition.
