India's Advinus in drug deal with Ortho-McNeil

MUMBAI, Sept 30 (Reuters) - India's Advinus Therapeutics said on Tuesday it had entered a drug discovery and development collaboration deal with Ortho-McNeil-Janssen Pharmaceuticals Inc.

Advinus, majority-owned by the Tata Group, will be responsible for drug discovery and early clinical development.

OMJP, a unit of Johnson & Johnson (JNJ.N), will have the option of taking potential drugs to late stage clinical trials and commercialisation, the Indian firm said in a statement.

Advinus will receive an upfront payment and could receive milestone payments of up to $247 million upon successful development of two targets, it said.

Advinus, which primarily focuses on metabolic and inflammatory diseases, is also eligible for royalties on drug sales resulting from the collaboration, it said. (Reporting by Rina Chandran; Editing by Mark Williams)