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news.Swiss health-care firm Roche Holding has agreed to acquire Danish biopharmaceutical firm Santaris Pharma for about $450m, to develop drugs for diseases that are difficult to address with existing medicines.
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As part of the deal, Roche will make an upfront cash payment of $250m to Santaris shareholders and make additional contingent payments of up to $200m based on the achievement of certain predetermined milestones.
Santaris has developed a new class of drug, known as Locked Nucleic Acid (LNA), that has contributed to an emerging era of RNA-targeting therapeutics.
The new class of medicines developed by Santaris has the potential to address difficult to treat diseases in a range of therapeutic areas.
Roche Pharma Research and Early Development head John Reed said today there are many disease targets that are very challenging or even impossible to reach with small molecules or antibodies.
"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," Reed said.
Santaris Pharma president and CEO Donald deBethizy said: "The acquisition combines Santaris Pharma’s next-generation antisense technology and LNA expertise with Roche’s deep experience in disease biology, chemistry, drug safety, drug formulation, delivery, and development."
The acquisition is scheduled to complete this month and is subject to customary closing conditions.
Roche intends to maintain Santaris’ operations in Denmark, where the existing site will be renamed Roche Innovation Center Copenhagen.
Image: The acquisition includes $250m upfront in cash with another $200m pending the achievement of drug development targets. Photo courtesy of adamr/ freedigitalphotos.net