Roche to Collaborate with Actelion Spin-Off to Focus on Cancer Immunotherapy
Actelion’s spin-off Idorsia is off to a great start with a large pipeline and full pockets. The “second Actelion” has now teamed up with Switzerland-based Roche for the development of immunotherapies against cancer.
The companies will collaborate on the discovery of products through the formation of a joint committee, chaired by Idorsia.
Roche will pay Idorsia an upfront payment of CHF 15 million and will have the option to exclusively license Idorsia compounds and compounds resulting from the collaboration, for a further payment of 35 million, after a pre-determined period.
Under the terms of the agreement, Idorsia will be eligible to receive one-time development and regulatory milestones of up to CHF 410 million. Idorsia will also be entitled to one-time milestones based on sales thresholds, as well as tiered royalties on annual net sales of all products resulting from the collaboration.
Martine Clozel, M.D. and Chief Scientific Officer of Idorsia, commented: “The preclinical data we have generated leads us to believe that our approach can translate into significant therapeutic benefits for patients. By joining forces, we are combining our advanced drug discovery program together with the cancer immunotherapy expertise of Roche. I am looking forward to the collaboration with our partner to leverage our research and bring compounds through clinical development as soon as possible.
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