Under the agreement, Janssen will have exclusive rights in Europe, South America, the Middle East, Africa and Australia, and Vertex will retain exclusive commercial rights to VX-950 in North America. Tibotec Pharmaceuticals, another Johnson & Johnson company, will lead the development and commercialization of VX-950 for Janssen.
Vertex will receive an upfront payment of $165 million upon signing the contract. In addition, Vertex could receive up to $380 million based on successful development and launch of VX-950 in the territories. The agreement also includes a royalty on product sales in Europe and other territories outside of North America and the Far East.
Vertex and Tibotec also announced that they will establish a global health initiative to increase the prevention, diagnosis, treatment and cure of hepatitis C virus infection to be principally directed toward developing countries.