Johnson & Johnson to Acquire KRAS Startup Firefly Bio for $1 Billion After Recent Pancreatic Cancer Data Validates Field
The acquisition targets KRAS inhibitors after Revolution Medicines reported nearly doubled survival in metastatic pancreatic cancer less than two months earlier.
zmescience.comJohnson & Johnson said Monday it will purchase the startup Firefly Bio for $1 billion. The deal expands Johnson & Johnson's work in KRAS inhibitors. The company announced the purchase on June 8, 2026.
Revolution Medicines showed that a KRAS-targeted drug could nearly double survival in metastatic pancreatic cancer. The data were released less than two months before June 8, 2026. Mutant forms of the KRAS gene and protein are found in around 30% of all tumors.
Drug developers had long targeted KRAS because of that prevalence. Before the Revolution Medicines results, companies had struggled to find molecules that could latch on to and shut down the protein. " Jason Mast is a general assignment reporter with particular focus on genetic medicine and rare disease.
