Roche is acquiring Poseida Therapeutics, a biotech developing allogeneic cell therapies for cancers and immunological indications. The two companies have been partners in hematological malignancies since 2022.
Roche’s Tecentriq Hybreza is a subcutaneously injectable formulation of the cancer drug Tecentriq while Ocrevus Zunovo is an injectable version of multiple sclerosis drug Ocrevus. Each is administered in minutes compared to an hour or more for infused therapies.
Closing cancer health equity gaps require medical breakthroughs made possible by new funding approaches.
Repare Therapeutics is cutting discovery and preclinical work to focus on its clinical-stage cancer drugs. The most advanced program is camonsertib, whose rights Repare recently regained from Roche after the pharma giant terminated an alliance started in 2022.
Roche reported its oral GLP-1 agonist led to an average 6.1% weight loss at four weeks, according to preliminary results from part of a Phase 1 study. The small molecule comes from Roche’s $2.7 billion acquisition of Carmot Therapeutics last year.
Ascidian Therapeutics’ technology edits RNA to treat inherited disorders. While the startup’s lead internal program is for the retinal disorder Stargardt disease, its new R&D alliance with Roche will focus on developing RNA-editing therapies for neurological indications.
The FDA expanded the approval of Roche’s Alecensa to include adjuvant treatment of non-small cell lung cancer. The targeted therapy addresses cancers driven by the ALK genetic mutation.
As technology advances, AI-powered tools will increasingly reduce the administrative burdens on healthcare providers.
Roche’s Carmot Therapeutics acquisition brings three clinical-stage assets that the companies say could be best-in-class drugs for metabolic disorders. In addition to standalone use, Roche sees the Carmot molecules as part of potential combinations with its own drug candidates.
Roche’s Telavant acquisition comes as the Roivant Sciences subsidiary prepares its main asset for Phase 3 testing in ulcerative colitis. The antibody drug candidate blocks a novel target for inflammation and fibrosis that’s also the focus of clinical-stage programs of other big pharma companies.
Roche is paying $50 million up front to begin a drug R&D alliance with Monte Rosa Therapeutics, a biotech whose molecular glue technology could address targets previously deemed undruggable. It’s Roche’s second such deal in the past month.
Alnylam pioneered RNA interference drugs for rare disease. The biotech aims to bring RNAI to prevalent disorders and its alliance with Roche on the drug zilebesiran for hypertension better positions the company to achieve this goal.
The future looks bright for the integrated specialty pharmacy model – for health systems, providers, and most importantly, for patients.
The FDA approved Roche’s Columvi as a third-line treatment for a type of blood cancer called diffuse large B-cell lymphoma. This new Roche drug will compete against Epkinly, AbbVie’s recently approved DLBCL drug.
Roche is acquiring global rights to a Zion Pharma Limited drug candidate with potential applications treating breast cancer that has metastasized to the brain. The small molecule, currently in Phase 1 testing, is designed to penetrate the blood-brain barrier.
Roche’s Polivy is now approved as an earlier line of treatment for patients who have diffuse large B-cell lymphoma. Accelerated approval of the drug in 2019 had made the drug a third treatment option for patients with advanced cases of this type of blood cancer.
AstraZeneca dominates the market for drugs that treat rare blood disorder paroxysmal nocturnal hemoglobinuria. Roche drug crovalimab met the two main goals of its pivotal test, and if approved, would offer a dosing edge compared to AstraZeneca’s two blockbuster PNH medicines.
Xofluza, a flu antiviral drug developed by Roche and Shionogi, is now approved in Europe for children age 1 and older. The European Commission decision expands the patient population for the drug, which was previously approved for treating adolescents and adults.