Roche To Acquire Biopharma Company Promedior in $1.4-Bn Deal
Roche has agreed to acquire Promedior, a Lexington, Massachusetts-based clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company with a portfolio of molecules for treating serious fibrotic diseases, in a deal worth up to $1.4 billion.
Under the agreement, Roche will make an upfront cash payment of $390 million, plus additional contingent payments of up to $1 billion based on the achievement of certain predetermined development, regulatory and commercial milestones. Roche will obtain full rights to Promedior’s entire portfolio of molecules for serious fibrotic diseases, including its lead product candidate, PRM-151 for the prevention and reversal of fibrosis.
Promedior has advanced PRM-151, a recombinant form of human pentraxin-2 protein, in human clinical trials and received breakthrough therapy designation from the US Food and Drug Administration earlier this year (2019) for idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis. Pentraxin-2 is an endogenous human protein that is specifically active at the site of tissue damage. PRM-151 has shown broad anti-fibrotic activity in multiple preclinical models of fibrotic disease, including pulmonary fibrosis, myelofibrosis, acute and chronic nephropathy, liver fibrosis, and age-related macular degeneration, according to the companies.
The closing of the transaction is subject to the expiration or termination of the waiting period under the Hart-Scott-Rodino Antitrust Improvements Act of 1976 and other customary conditions.
Source: Promedior