Roche's ($RHHBY) European-based R&D arm pRED has closed a deal to buy Denmark's Santaris Pharma, paying $250 million upfront with another $200 million up for grabs in potential milestones if the research pays off. The deal marks a big increase in Roche's bet on RNA-targeting drugs, a research sector it exited with great fanfare several years ago as experts debated the potential for the field.
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| John Reed, head of Roche's pRED |
Back in January pRED chief John Reed raised eyebrows when he gambled $10 million upfront to partner with Santaris, which has facilities in San Diego. Whatever he learned in the meantime evidently whetted his appetite even more as pRED continues a deal spree that has circled the globe.
Roche is jumping on Santaris' LNA (locked nucleic acid) platform, which the biotech claims can overcome the limitations of antisense and siRNA technologies and deliver new therapies that can do what antibodies and small molecules are incapable of doing: hitting some currently undruggable targets with mRNA and microRNA-targeted therapies that are much better targeted than some of the current RNA therapies in the pipeline.
The big idea behind RNAi is to mimic the way the body silences genes. But delivering the drug became a major challenge, early programs floundered, and Roche joined the drugmakers on the way out the door. In early 2013, though, Roche was back with a $392 million RNA deal with Isis ($ISIS). And a company spokesperson says Roche is increasingly confident that these new partnerships can blaze a path to significant new therapies.
"Today there are many disease targets that are very challenging or even impossible to reach with small molecules or antibodies," said Reed in a statement. "We believe the LNA platform provides the means to efficiently discover and develop an important new class of medicines that may address the significant needs of patients across multiple therapeutic areas."
The acquisition is expected to close later this month.
The deal marks another step forward in the evolution of Roche's R&D organization in the wake of its big Genentech buyout. Roche later shuttered its big campus for pRED in Nutley, NJ, letting gRED take the lead on cancer therapies in the U.S. Roche revamped pRED, hiring Reed as it reshaped research operations in Europe and the U.S., with a large group now based in Manhattan.
- here's the release