Achillion Enters Into Worldwide Collaboration for Hepatitis C With Janssen

- Transactions include up to $1.1 billion in potential development, regulatory and sales milestone payments and a separate equity investment -

- Achillion eligible for tieredroyalties between mid-teens and low-twenties on future worldwide sales -

- Janssen responsible for all development costs within the collaboration and all subsequent costs related to commercialization of the assets -

- Conference call scheduled for today at 5:00 p.m. ET -

NEW HAVEN, Conn., May 19, 2015 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Achillion Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (Nasdaq:ACHN) announced today that it has entered into a worldwide license and collaboration arrangement with Janssen Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (Janssen), one of the Janssen Pharmaceutical Companies of Johnson & Johnson, to develop and commercialize one or more of Achillion's lead hepatitis C virus (HCV) assets which include ACH-3102, ACH-3422, and sovaprevir.

"We are excited to collaborate with Janssen for the worldwide development of our HCV assets in combination with their HCV portfolio. We believe that Janssen's renowned expertise in HCV development and commercialization enables a synergistic opportunity to rapidly advance our combined HCV assets toward the market while simultaneously achieving an optimized treatment regimen for all HCV patients," said Milind Deshpande, Ph.D., President and Chief Executive Officer of Achillion. "Furthermore, we believe that their investment in Achillion through Johnson & Johnson Innovation - JJDC allows us to maximize the value from our HCV portfolio and also positions us to become a leader in complement factor D inhibition, applying our broad platform to a wide number of complement-related diseases. We believe this strategy provides an ideal scenario to create further value for our shareholders."

Under the terms of the agreement, Achillion will grant Janssen an exclusive, worldwide license to develop and, upon regulatory approval, commercialize HCV products and regimens containing one or more of Achillion's HCV assets. Achillion is eligible to receive a number of payments based upon achievement of specified development, regulatory and sales milestones. Achillion is also eligible to receive tiered royalty percentages between mid-teens and low-twenties based upon future worldwide sales. Janssen will be responsible for all of the development costs within the collaboration and all subsequent costs related to commercialization of the HCV assets.

A key objective of the collaboration will be to develop a short-duration, highly effective, pan-genotypic, oral regimen for the treatment of HCV. An initial regimen that will be explored will feature Achillion's ACH-3102, a second-generation NS5A inhibitor currently in Phase 2 clinical studies that has been granted Fast Track designation by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, in combination with an NS3/4A HCV protease inhibitor plus an NS5B HCV polymerase inhibitor from the collaboration.

Additionally, in an equity transaction separate to the exclusive license and collaboration arrangement, Johnson & Johnson Innovation - JJDC, Inc. will invest $225 million in Achillion and, in return, receive approximately 18.4 million newly issued, unregistered shares of Achillion at a price of $12.25 per share.

The transactions, including the equity sale, are subject to customary closing conditions, including termination or expiration of any applicable waiting periods under the Hart-Scott-Rodino Act. Transitional clinical development and technology transfer activities under the collaboration are expected to take place over the next several months.

Centerview Partners acted as exclusive financial advisor to Achillion. Leerink Partners also advised the Company. WilmerHale acted as legal counsel for Achillion in connection with the transactions.

Conference Call
Achillion will host a conference call and simultaneous webcast on Tuesday, May 19, 2015 at 5:00 p.m. Eastern time. To participate in the conference call, please dial (866) 205-4820 in the U.S. or (419) 386-0004 for international callers. A live audio webcast of the call will be accessible at http://www.achillion.com or http://ir.achillion.com. Please connect to Achillion's website several minutes prior to the start of the broadcast to ensure adequate time for any software download that may be necessary.

A replay of the webcast will be available for 30 days on www.achillion.com. Alternatively, a replay of the conference call will be available starting at 8:00 p.m. Eastern time on May 19, 2015, through 11:59 p.m. Eastern time on May 25, 2015 by dialing (855) 859-2056 or (404) 537-3406. The replay passcode is 51773113.

Read the rest of this press release here: http://ir.achillion.com/releasedetail.cfm?releaseid=913980