Roche to Acquire Ignyta for $1.7B in a Bid to Bolster its Oncology Portfolio
Swiss Pharmaceutical Giant Roche has now entered a definitive merger agreement to fully acquire US Cancer drugmaker Ignyta at a price of $27 per share in cash, representing a premium of about 74 percent, for a total transaction value of $1.7 billion.
Roche has said it will focus on small deals like Ignyta to build out its portfolio. The Swiss company, the world’s biggest maker of cancer drugs, is facing a critical transition as its three top-selling medicines lose patent protection.
San Diego-based Ignyta’s lead drug candidate, the oral CNS-active tyrosine kinase inhibitor entrectinib, targets tumours with ROS1 fusions in non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) or NTRK fusions across a broad range of solid tumours. The company, which will continue its operations in San Diego, will be responsible for the ongoing Phase II STARTRK-2 trial of entrectinib in patients with ROS1 fusion-positive advanced NSCLC. Interim results unveiled in October showed that first-line targeted therapy with entrectinib led to confirmed objective response rates (ORR) of 78 percent and 69 percent by investigator and blinded independent central review, respectively.
Entrectinib is presently being tested in patient trials that, if successful, could be the basis for applications with regulators
to sell the drug. Roche said it aims to complete the purchase in the first half of 2018.Daniel O’Day, chief executive of Roche’s pharma division, said: “Cancer is a highly complex disease and many patients suffer from mutations which are difficult to detect and treat. The agreement with Ignyta builds on Roche’s strategy of fitting treatments to patients and will allow Roche to broaden and strengthen its oncology portfolio globally.”
Ignyta will continue to operate in San Diego and be responsible for the ongoing pivotal study of entrectinib, a move which mirrors the autonomy given to Genentech, the neighbouring biotech giant Roche bought in 2009.
Ignyta CEO, and co-founder, Jonathan E. Lim, said, “Ignyta has been singularly focused on developing precisely targeted therapeutics guided by diagnostics for patients with rare cancers. We are excited that Roche, the global leader in both oncology and personalised healthcare, recognises this powerful approach and shares our passion for advancing entrectinib for the benefit of patients.”