Macrocyclics signs new collaborative research agreement with Roche

After the completion of their first 2012 collaboration, Macrocyclics has announced a new collaborative research agreement with Roche for the continued development of novel chelating agents designed specifically by Macrocyclics for Roche’s applications. The new project will build on established research related to lead-212 (212Pb) and novel chelate architecture for radioimmunotherapy.

Roche collaborates with Ascletis to develop and commercialise danoprevir in China

Roche has announced that it has teamed up Ascletis to develop and commercialise its investigational drug danoprevir in China for the treatment of the hepatitis C virus. Under the agreement, Ascletis will fund, develop and manufacture danoprevir in China and will also be responsible for regulatory affairs. Ascletis will receive payments upon reaching certain development and commercial milestones from Roche. Roche bought the full rights to develop and commercialise danoprevir from InterMune in 2010 for $175 million.

Roche and Isis Pharmaceuticals sign $392 million alliance for Huntington’s disease

Roche and Isis Pharmaceuticals have announced that they have formed an alliance to develop treatments for Huntington’s disease (HD) based on Isis’ antisense oligonucleotide (ASO) technology. Isis and Roche will also be collaborating to combine Isis’ ASOs and Roche’s “brain shuttle” program with the objective of increasing the brain penetration of ASOs with systemic administration. Initially, research will focus on Isis’ lead drug candidate that blocks production of all forms of the huntingtin (HTT) protein, the protein responsible for HD and thus has the potential to treat all HD patients. Isis is also conducting research into treatments that specifically block production of the disease-causing forms of the HTT protein which has the potential to treat subsets of HD patients. In parallel, Roche will combine its proprietary brain shuttle technology with Isis ASO technology that, if successful, will also allow systemic administration of antisense drugs to treat asymptomatic patients. Under the terms of the agreement, Roche will make an upfront payment of $30 million to Isis, with total payments related to license fee and pre- and post-licensing milestone payments reaching up to $362 million, including up to $80 million in commercial milestone payments. Isis will also receive tiered royalties on sales of the drugs. Roche has the option to license the drugs from Isis through the completion of the first Phase 1 trial. Prior to option exercise, Isis is responsible for the discovery and development of an antisense drug targeting HTT protein. Roche and Isis will work collaboratively on the discovery of an antisense drug utilizing Roche’s “brain shuttle” program. If Roche exercises its option, it will be responsible for global development, regulatory and commercialization activities for all drugs arising out of the collaboration.

BioLamina and Roche sign agreement to develop new cell culture systems

BioLamina and Roche have announced the signing of a research and development agreement to jointly develop new cell culture systems for various applications, including stem cell research. The collaboration will focus on assessing laminin-based in-vitro cell culture matrices offering highly physiological microenvironments for living cells. Under the terms of the agreement Roche will provide funding and scientific expertise to BioLamina. Financial details were not disclosed.

Galapagos and Roche end their fibrosis alliance

Galapagos has announced that it agreed with Roche to end their alliance in fibrosis. Roche will make a payment of €5.75 million to Galapagos for work completed in 2012. With the ending of the alliance, Galapagos has regained the worldwide rights to all fibrosis assays and the targets discovered in the alliance. Under the collaboration Galapagos will have received a total of €16 million in upfront and milestone payments, including this latest payment.

Roche and Chiasma sign collaboration agreement worth up to $595 million

Roche and Chiasma have announced that they have entered into an agreement to develop and commercialize Chiasma’s Octreolin, initially for acromegaly and subsequently for neuroendocrine tumors. Octreolin is an investigational oral form of the peptide octreotide, a somatostatin analog that is commercially available only by injection. Octreolin is currently in a pivotal phase 3 clinical trial for acromegaly. Under the terms of the agreement, Roche received a worldwide exclusive license to Octreolin, and will assume responsibility for the commercialization of Octreolin. Genentech will market the product in the United States after US FDA approval. Chiasma will continue development through completion of the pivotal phase 3 clinical trial for acromegaly. The arrangement includes an upfront payment to Chiasma of $65 million, future considerations of up to $530 million in development and commercial milestones, as well as tiered, double-digit royalties on Octreolin net sales.

Afraxis signs $187.5 million licensing agreement with Genentech

Afraxis has announced that it has entered into a global licensing agreement with Genentech, a member of the Roche Group, to develop compounds for an undisclosed novel target. Under the terms of the agreement, Genentech will have exclusive, worldwide rights to develop and commercialize Afraxis’ proprietary compounds. Afraxis is eligible to receive upfront, research, development and commercialization milestone payments, together worth up to $187.5 million. Full financial terms have not been disclosed.

Epizyme, Eisai and Roche sign collaboration to develop companion diagnostic test

Epizyme, Eisai and Roche have announced that they have signed a collaboration to develop an in vitro PCR (Polymerase Chain Reaction) based companion diagnostic test. The collaboration’s goal is to identify lymphoma patients with non-wild type EZH2, including the Y641 mutation. Further terms of the collaboration were not disclosed.

Evotec signs $175 million license agreement with Janssen Pharmaceuticals

Evotec has announced that it has entered into a license agreement with Janssen Pharmaceuticals around its NR2B subtype selective NMDA-antagonist portfolio for development against diseases in the field of depression. Under the terms of the agreement Janssen has been granted an exclusive, worldwide license to a series of small molecule drug candidates. Janssen has the exclusive right to further develop the compounds and market the resulting products. Evotec will receive an upfront payment of $2 million with an additional $6 million to be paid upon confirmation of pre-clinical properties of the candidates. Evotec is eligible to receive additional milestone payments from Janssen which may amount to $167 million. Evotec will share portions of the payments with Roche, which originally discovered the molecules.

ProMining Therapeutics signs new collaboration with Roche

ProMining Therapeutics has announced a new collaboration with Roche in the field of type 2 diabetes mellitus. Under the terms of the agreement, ProMining Therapeutics will use its CavitIIRx platform to develop small molecule therapeutics for treatment of type 2 diabetes mellitus and will receive research based funding. Further details of the agreement were not disclosed.