Swiss pharmaceutical company Roche has announced the acquisition of Telavant Holdings for 6.7 billion euros.
Telavant, 75% owned by Roivant Sciences and 25% by Pfizer, holds the rights for development, manufacturing and commercialization in the United States and Japan of RVT-3101, an experimental therapy for intestinal diseases such as ulcerative colitis and Crohn's disease.
Roche will pay 6.7 billion euros upfront, with an additional short-term milestone payment of 141 million euros.
Following the transaction, Roche will obtain exclusive rights to develop, manufacture and commercialize RVT-3101 in the United States and Japan, while Pfizer will retain rights in the rest of the world.
Thomas Schinecker, Chief Executive Officer of the Roche Group, expressed his enthusiasm about adding this new therapy to the company's portfolio, with the aim of making it available to patients as quickly as possible.
RVT-3101, targeting inflammatory bowel diseases that affect almost eight million people worldwide, is considered to have the potential to be the first therapy to offer high efficacy and safety.
Levi Garraway, Medical Director and Global Product Development Director of Roche, highlights the importance of addressing these chronic diseases, as 80% of those affected do not experience sustained remission.
Ulcerative colitis, one of the conditions treated by RVT-3101, often affects young people between fifteen and thirty years old. Up to a quarter of people diagnosed will require a colectomy within ten years of diagnosis.
Roche, a Swiss multinational pharmaceutical company headquartered in Basel, specialized in the research and development of medicines, seeks to expand its portfolio and address the needs of those affected by inflammatory bowel diseases.
With information from: PlantaDoce.
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