In a deal worth up to US$835 M, Isis Pharmaceuticals has partnered with Janssen Biotech to discover and develop antisense drugs that can be locally targeted to treat autoimmune disorders of gastrointestinal tract, a therapeutic area of expertise for Janssen. Once a development candidate has been identified, Janssen will have the option to license a drug from each of the three programmes that are covered under the agreement. Isis previously partnered with Johnson & Johnson’sOrtho-McNeil in 2007 to develop antisense drugs for metabolic diseases.