Vascular Pharmaceuticals has signed an agreement with Johnson & Johnson’s Janssen Biotech that grants Janssen the exclusive right to acquire the North Carolina-based company following the completion of a planned Phase II study of its lead monoclonal antibody drug candidate VPI-2690B for diabetic nephropathy. The deal follows the successful completion by Vascular Pharma of a US$16 M Series A equity financing, the company’s first institutional round of funding, which it hopes will be sufficient to advance preclinical-stage VPI-2690B through Phase II.