Roche has entered into a new licensing agreement with SangeneBio to develop RNA interference (RNAi) therapies. The deal involves an upfront payment of $200 million from Roche, with the potential for SangeneBio to receive up to $1.5 billion in additional milestone payments related to development and commercialization.
The companies did not disclose which diseases or molecular targets are involved in the collaboration. According to their joint announcement, they will use SangeneBio’s RNAi technology to work on “potential breakthrough siRNA medicines for multiple disease areas.” Early development will be handled by SangeneBio, while Genentech, a subsidiary of Roche, will oversee clinical studies and commercialization efforts. If any products reach the market, SangeneBio is set to receive tiered royalties.
This partnership is expected to expand Roche’s RNAi pipeline. Currently, Roche is developing zilebesiran for hypertension in high-risk cardiovascular patients through a partnership with Alnylam that began in July 2023 and could be worth up to $2.8 billion. In addition, Roche acquired Santaris Pharma—a company specializing in RNA-targeting drugs—for $450 million in August 2014.
SangeneBio now joins several other companies that have recently partnered with Roche. In September last year, Roche acquired 89bio for $3.5 billion as part of its strategy in metabolic diseases. This was followed by a November agreement with Manifold Bio focused on crossing the blood-brain barrier and potentially valued at over $2 billion. Toward the end of last year, Roche announced another deal—worth up to $1.1 billion—with Caris Life Sciences targeting solid tumors.
Roche has continued this pace into the current year by acquiring an antibody-drug conjugate from MediLink for $570 million; details about further milestone payments were not disclosed.
"Potential breakthrough siRNA medicines for multiple disease areas," said representatives from both companies regarding their latest agreement.
