J&J grabs a hold of Halda for $3B to gain the novel “hold and kill” cancer tech

Johnson & Johnson is acquiring Halda Therapeutics for $3.05 billion, gaining a novel “hold-and-kill” cell death platform and a promising prostate cancer drug candidate, HLD-0915.

Why it matters: This acquisition strengthens J&J’s prostate cancer portfolio, potentially overcoming resistance seen with current treatments and expanding its oncology reach into multiple tumor types.

Backstory: Halda’s RIPTAC platform creates bifunctional small molecules that force proximity between a tumor-specific and survival-essential protein, inducing cell death. Lead candidate HLD-0915 showed early efficacy and safety in metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer (mCRPC) patients who had failed other therapies, including J&J’s own Erleada.

Big picture: The deal marks J&J’s continued push into targeted cancer therapies amid broader industry trends favoring full acquisitions like deals including Pfizer’s $10B Metsera buy and Merck’s $9.2B Cidara acquisition. The acquisition complements J&J’s existing prostate cancer pipeline, which includes a T-cell engager targeting kallikrein 2 (KLK2) and an ADC targeting prostate-specific membrane antigen from the $2B Ambrx buy.

Zoom in: In phase 1/2 trials, 59% of patients on HLD-0915 saw >50% prostate-specific antigen reduction; 32% had >90% drops, and all with infrequent and mostly mild side effects.

What’s next: J&J plans to speed up trials and expand to other cancers and diseases using Halda’s platform.