Roche has agreed to pay US$7.1 billion for Telavant, a company owned by US rivals Roivant and Pfizer Inc (NYSE:PFE), that has developed an early-stage inflammatory bowel disease treatment
Through the deal, Swiss group Roche will get the rights to develop, manufacture and commercialise the experimental drug, known as RVT-3101, in the US and Japan.
It is new Roche chief executive Thomas Schinecker’s first major deal and the start of what he promised would be a reset for the group after recent disappointments in cancer immunotherapy and Alzheimer’s drug developments.
Using a treatment known as anti-TL1A antibodies, Roche’s new drug will target conditions such as ulcerative colitis and Crohn's disease.
Phase III trials of RVT-3101 will start shortly said Roche, with the pharma hopeful it will also be able to treat other conditions.
"We strongly believe this novel TL1A-directed antibody has the transformational potential to make a significant difference for patients living with inflammatory bowel disease and potentially other diseases," said Schinecker.
Bowel disorders affect an estimated eight million people worldwide with up four-fifths of these living with it as an ongoing condition.
Anti-TL1A drugs have been a hot property recently, with Merck buying specialist Prometheus Bio for US$10.8 billion in April and earlier this month Sanofi buying rights to an Anti-TL1A antibody developed by Teva.