Would-be therapies in respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) took center stage with Johnson & Johnson's (J&J) plan to take over Alios Biopharma Inc. for $1.75 billion, gaining a pipeline that includes the phase II oral nucleoside analogue AL-8176 in RSV and a uridine nucleotide (nuke) analogue, AL-335, for hepatitis C virus (HCV) – another, less loudly touted driver for the deal.