Benzinga | May 18, 2021 09:10AM EDT

Arrowhead Receives $10M Option Exercise Fee From Janssen

* Janssen Pharmaceuticals Inc, part of Johnson & Johnson (NYSE: JNJ), has delivered written notice of its intent to exercise its option right for ARO-JNJ1.

* Receipt of the option notice earns Arrowhead Pharmaceuticals Inc (NASDAQ: ARWR) a $10 million option exercise fee.

* Janssen will now have all rights to develop and commercialize ARO-JNJ1, an investigational RNAi therapeutic candidate which utilizes Arrowhead's proprietary Targeted RNAi Molecule platform.

* "The collaboration with Janssen, which was executed in 2018, for ARO-HBV against chronic hepatitis B infection, and potentially three additional programs, has been highly productive and collaborative," said Chris Anzalone, President & CEO at Arrowhead.

* Price Action: JNJ shares are down 0.22% at $170.02 during the premarket session on the last check Tuesday. ARWR closed at $73.05 on Monday.