Bionomics in licensing deal with J&J

South Australian genomics research company Bionomics (ASX: BNO) has entered a licensing deal with Johnson & Johnson Research (JJR) to develop angiogenesis drugs.

Under the collaborative arrangement, Bionomics will use the United States company's proprietary technology to validate a number of drug targets. JJR would then have the right to licence the drug targets for product development and worldwide commercialisation.

The validation will involve specific target genes identified using a novel angiogenesis model developed by the Hanson Centre for Cancer Research in Adelaide.

Bionomics chief executive officer Dr Deborah Rathjen said the deal represented the company's most significant business achievement to date.

She said that, depending on the achievement of development milestones, Bionomics could expect revenues of $50 million plus royalties on products.

"This deal further validates Bionomics' international scientific standing and our business strategy," Rathjen said. "Angiogenesis ... has exciting potential for medical breakthroughs in the treatment of diseases such as cancer and rheumatoid arthritis.

"Bionomics' research aims to provide new gene-based treatments for these serious medical conditions and in turn provide our shareholders with a significant return on their investment."

She said the latest deal was initiated last August when JJR approach the Thebarton company.

"What they have is some proprietary technology that has already resulted in drugs in clinical trials," Rathjen said. "What Bionomics has are novel drug targets in angiogenesis, which can apply to cancer and autoimmune diseases.

"Johnson & Johnson has a specific interest in cancer, so we are putting together their technology and our angiogenesis model. We will be using their proprietary drug technology to identify and validate our drug targets."

Other recent angiogenesis deals struck by Bionomics have included technology and product development agreements with European company Genmab and US group Hybrigen.