Roche Acquires Carmot Therapeutics for $2.7 Billion

Roche Acquires Carmot Therapeutics for $2.7 Billion

Carmot Therapeutics Inc. announced on December 4 that it entered into a definitive merger agreement to be acquired by Roche Holding AG at a purchase price of $2.7 billion upfront and the potential for $400 million in milestone payments.  Carmot Therapeutics is a biotechnology firm with injectable dual GLP-1/GIP receptor agonists and an oral GLP-1 drug in clinical development. The biotechnology company filed to go public in November 2023.  Roche Holding AG, commonly known as Roche, operates in the pharmaceuticals and diagnostics businesses worldwide. The company’s headquarters are located in Basel, Switzerland. According to its 2022 annual report, Roche’s net sales... Read More »
Roche Acquires Carmot Therapeutics for $2.7 Billion

Roche Acquires Telavant for $7.1 Billion

Roche Holding AG announced on October 23 that it will acquire Telavant Holdings from its majority owner, Roivant Sciences. Under the terms of the agreement, Roche will pay a purchase price of $7.1 billion upfront and a near-term milestone payment of $150 million.  Telavant is a biotechnology company that produces drugs to treat inflammatory and fibrotic diseases. It is in the process of developing a new therapy for patients with Crohn’s disease. Telavant was jointly formed by Roivant and Pfizer, Inc. in 2022 to develop and commercialize RVT-3101, a monthly subcutaneously administered anti-TL1A antibody, in the United States and Japan. Roivant currently owns 75% of the issued and... Read More »
Roche Holding Acquires GenMark Diagnostics

Roche Holding Acquires GenMark Diagnostics

Last week, the pharmaceutical giant Roche Holding AG (SIX: RO) announced a new acquisition for GenMark Diagnostics (NASDAQ: GNMK), a Carlsbad, California lab services company. GenMark Diagnostics is a leading provider of multiplex molecular diagnostic solutions designed to enhance patient care, improve key quality metrics and reduce the total cost-of-care. GenMark’s eSensor XT-8 and ePlex systems are designed to support a broad range of molecular diagnostic sample-to-answer tests with compact, easy-to-use workstations and self-contained, disposable test cartridges.  The deal is valued at $1.8 billion cash, or $24.05 per share, a premium of... Read More »
Roche Acquires Spark Therapeutics, Inc. in Another Large Biotech Deal

Roche Acquires Spark Therapeutics, Inc. in Another Large Biotech Deal

It’s been a busy year for the biotechnology sector so far, and this week continued the trend. Roche (SIX: RO), the global pharmaceuticals and diagnostics company, acquired Spark Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ: ONCE) for $4.3 billion. At $114.50 per share, the price represents a 122% premium to Spark’s closing price on February 22, 2019, and a 19% premium to Spark’s high share price on July 9, 2018. Founded in 2013, Spark Therapeutics develops gene therapies for genetic diseases, including blindness, hemophilia, lysosomal storage disorders, and neurodegenerative diseases. Spark will continue operations in Philadelphia as an independent company under Roche. The deal gives Roche key... Read More »
Roche Builds on its Foundation Medicine Deal

Roche Builds on its Foundation Medicine Deal

Three years after its first investment, Roche AG (SIX: RO) bought the rest of Foundation Medicine, Inc., a Cambridge, Massachusetts-based molecular information company. In January 2015, Roche plunked down $1.03 billion to acquire approximately 57% of Foundation Medicine from its venture capital backers Google Ventures, Third Rock Ventures and Kleiner, Perkins, Caufield & Byers. Roche acquired approximately 15.6 million shares in Foundation at $50 per share. It also invested $250 million by acquiring 5 million newly issued shares at $50 per share. My, how times (and markets) have changed. On June 19, Roche announced it would pay $2.4 billion to buy the shares it didn’t own. The... Read More »