J&J Buys Momenta

We keep a close eye on the recommended holdings in Vestact portfolios. Last week Johnson & Johnson announced a transaction to buy Momenta Pharmaceuticals (Nasdaq-listed with the share code MNTA) for about $6.5 billion in cash. The deal is expected to close in the second half of this year.

Momenta has an experimental therapy called Nipocalimab, which is showing considerable promise in the treatment of myasthenia gravis, an autoimmune neuromuscular disease that causes weakness in muscles. Autoimmune diseases occur when the body's own antibodies attack or damage healthy proteins and cells.

Johnson & Johnson has a strong focus on immunology and believes that Nipocalimab could open up a multi-billion dollar market, with first-in-class products with potential for rapid uptake. In the press release related to this deal, Johnson & Johnson said an estimated 2.5% of the global population have some type of autoantibody-driven disease, many of which are quite rare.

Momenta, which is based in Cambridge, Massachusetts had a good day on the market when the deal was announced, with its stock price rising by 70%. Johnson & Johnson is much bigger, and this size of deal only moves the needle slightly, but in a positive direction.