XBiotech soars on $750 mln deal to sell anti-inflammatory drug to Janssen

XBiotech

09/12/2019 16:33

** Drug developer's shares  XBIT.O  soar as much as 106.4%
to $11.83, touching a near 3-1/2 year high     
    ** J&J's  JNJ.N  Janssen to buy XBIT's investigational
anti-inflammatory drug, bermekimab; drug currently in
development for the treatment of chronic skin diseases
    ** XBIT to get $750 mln in cash from Janssen, upon deal
closure 
    ** If Janssen decides to develop bermekimab for indications
other than dermatology, XBIT may receive up to $600 mln in
potential milestone payments
    ** XBIT last up 80% at $8.94 and is set for its best day
ever; stock currently among top Nasdaq listed pct gainers 
    ** XBIT says it will use proceeds to develop other antibody
therapeutics in co's pipeline and potential share buybacks
 urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nNRAaepxwe   
    ** With Monday's gains, XBIT has risen nearly four-fold
since the start of the year   
    ** JNJ up marginally on Monday

 (Reporting by Uday Sampath in Bengaluru)
 ((UdaySampath.Kumar@thomsonreuters.com; within U.S.+1 646 223
8780; Twitter: @sampath_uday; Reuters Messaging:
UdaySampath.Kumar.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net))