Johnson & Johnson Acquires TARIS Biomedical to Advance Targeted Therapy for Bladder Cancer

VCBeat (WeChat ID: vcbeat) learned from foreign media reports that on December 20, 2019, Johnson & Johnson announced the acquisition of the private biotechnology company TARIS Biomedical. Specific financial terms were not disclosed.

TARIS, founded in 2008 and headquartered in Massachusetts, USA, is a private biotechnology company focused on urology. TARIS is dedicated to developing robust, targeted new therapies for millions of patients suffering from hard-to-treat bladder diseases. The company’s clinical-stage product, TAR-200, leverages its proprietary “TARIS System”—featuring a silicone-based drug delivery device—to continuously deliver medication into the patient’s bladder, thereby achieving improved therapeutic outcomes.

Following the completion of this acquisition, TARIS will become part of Johnson & Johnson’s Janssen R&D division and will continue its biotechnology and pharmaceutical research and development operations in Lexington, Massachusetts. The TARIS team will collaborate with Johnson & Johnson’s research scientists to remain focused on optimizing bladder cancer drug candidates and advancing and implementing future clinical programs leveraging TARIS technology.

Effective therapies for bladder cancer have remained an unmet medical need in the medical community, as reflected by the high incidence of bladder cancer and limited therapeutic progress over the past two decades. Globally, bladder cancer is the sixth most common cancer in men and the seventeenth most common in women. In 2018, there were approximately 550,000 new cases of bladder cancer worldwide; 70%–75% of these were diagnosed at an early stage as non-muscle-invasive bladder cancer (NMIBC), while 25%–30% were muscle-invasive bladder cancer (MIBC). For the majority of patients who are not suitable candidates for surgical intervention, the disease typically progresses to metastatic stages post-surgery, with only 5% of bladder cancer patients surviving more than five years after surgery.

In light of the global demand for novel targeted therapies among bladder cancer patients, Johnson & Johnson is dedicated to developing inhibitory drugs for bladder cancer, aiming to transform treatment paradigms and provide patients with more therapeutic options. The acquisition of TARIS represents a significant step toward achieving this goal.

Mathai Mammen, Global Head of Research and Development at Johnson & Johnson, has fully affirmed TARIS’s strengths and contributions in the field of bladder cancer. Dr. Mathai Mammen stated, “TARIS technology and its team have created an unparalleled opportunity for integration. TARIS holds the potential to provide differentiated, targeted therapies for patients with localized bladder cancer. We are eager to advance the clinical development of this drug delivery therapy, building upon the validation data already generated by the TARIS team, with the aim of making this treatment available to patients facing bladder cancer and, potentially in the future, other types of cancer.”

Johnson & Johnson is the world’s most comprehensive and widely distributed manufacturer of healthcare products and provider of health services. Founded in 1886, the company sells its products in 175 countries and regions, with production and sales spanning multiple sectors, including consumer care products, pharmaceuticals, and medical devices and diagnostics.

(Compiled by Wang Fang)