Like Bristol-Myers Squibb And AbbVie, Johnson & Johnson Seeks To Bolster Neuropsychiatric Portfolio With $15 Billion Deal

On Monday, Johnson & Johnson JNJ agreed to acquire Intra-Cellular Therapies Inc. ITCI for $132.00 per share in cash for a total equity value of approximately $14.6 billion.

Intra-Cellular Therapies is a biopharmaceutical company focused on developing and commercializing therapeutics for central nervous system (CNS) disorders.

Also Read: Intra-Cellular Therapies’ Treatment Reduces Schizophrenia Relapse Risk 63%

With this agreement, Johnson & Johnson adds Intra-Cellular Therapies’ Caplyta (lumateperone), a once-daily oral therapy approved to treat adults with schizophrenia, as well as depressive episodes associated with bipolar I or II disorder (bipolar depression), as a monotherapy and adjunctive therapy with lithium or valproate.

The acquisition also includes ITI-1284, a promising Phase 2 compound being studied in generalized anxiety disorder (GAD) and Alzheimer’s disease-related psychosis and agitation, as well as a clinical-stage pipeline that further complements and strengthens Johnson & Johnson’s current areas of focus.

In December 2024, Intra-Cellular Therapies submitted a marketing application to the FDA for Caplyta as an adjunctive treatment for adults with major depressive disorder (MDD).

In two global Phase 3 studies, Caplyta, as an adjunctive treatment to antidepressants, demonstrated a statistically significant and clinically meaningful improvement in depressive symptoms, as measured by both clinician-rated and patient-reported outcomes.

If approved, Caplyta has the potential to be the first treatment approved for MDD and depressive symptoms associated with bipolar I and II in more than 15 years.

Additional Phase 3 trials are underway with Caplyta in bipolar I disorder with manic episodes or manic episodes with mixed features (bipolar mania).

Johnson & Johnson expects to fund the transaction through cash on hand and debt.

In 204, Bristol-Myers Squibb & Co BMY added an oral medication for schizophrenia via Karuna Therapeutics deal for $330 per share in cash for a total equity value of $14 billion.

In November, AbbVie Inc ABBV released data from its two Phase 2 EMPOWER trials of emraclidine for schizophrenia.

The patients experienced an acute exacerbation of psychotic symptoms and did not meet their primary endpoint of showing a statistically significant improvement in the change from baseline in the Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale (PANSS) total score compared to the placebo group at week 6.

AbbVie added emraclidine via the approximately $8.7 billion acquisition of Cerevel Therapeutics.

Price Action: JNJ stock is up 0.86% at $143.28, and ITCI stock is up 34.5% at $127.62 at the last check on Monday.

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