Roche Holding AG will pay $7.1 billion to acquire Telavant Holdings Inc., a developer of a promising therapy for treating inflammatory bowel disease, in a bid to shore up its pipeline of experimental medicines.
The Swiss pharmaceutical company said Monday it will gain rights in the US and Japan to develop and market the drug known as RVT-3101. Roche will also provide a near-term milestone payment of $150 million.
The antibody therapy developed by Telavant, which is owned by Roivant Sciences Ltd. and Pfizer Inc., targets both inflammation and fibrosis, giving it the potential to be applied in multiple other diseases, Roche said. The drug, which can be delivered at home via injection, has shown it can be used safely by patients in clinical trials so far.
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