Johnson & Johnson in talks to buy Swiss drug maker Actelion

The US healthcare firm said there can be no assurance any transaction will be signed from the preliminary negotiations.

It also noted that further comments regarding the discussions will be made at the right time, or after signing a formal agreement.

Actelion, which was established in late 1997, is engaged in the discovery, development and commercialization of drugs for diseases with significant unmet medical requirements.

The company’s pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) portfolio includes the spectrum of disease, from WHO Functional Class (FC) II through to FC IV, with oral, inhaled and intravenous medications.

Earlier this month, Actelion unveiled that the MERIT study to evaluate the efficacy, safety and tolerability of macitentan in patients with inoperable chronic thromboembolic pulmonary hypertension met its primary endpoint.

Opsumit (macitentan) is an orally available endothelin receptor antagonist resulted from a tailored drug discovery process in Actelion's laboratories.

Actelion secured approval from health authorities for treatments for several specialist diseases including Type 1 Gaucher disease, Niemann-Pick type C disease, Digital Ulcers in patients suffering from systemic sclerosis, and mycosis fungoides type cutaneous T-cell lymphoma.

The company employs more than 2,500 people covering all key markets globally including Europe, the US, Japan, China, Russia and Mexico.

Johnson & Johnson has some 250 subsidiary companies with operations in 60 countries and products sold in over 175 countries. The company employs more than 125,000 people.

Image: J&J headquarters at One Johnson & Johnson Plaza in New Brunswick, New Jersey. Photo: courtesy of user:ekem, English Wikipedia.