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Basel,
9 January 2006
• Research collaboration for targets in inflammatory
diseases
• Option for Amira to license specified clinical
compounds from Roche
Swiss healthcare group Roche and San Diego based
biotech company Amira Pharmaceuticals today announced
a pioneering model for collaboration consisting
of a research alliance and an option for Amira to
license two clinical stage compounds from Roche.
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Roche
and Amira collaborate on inflammatory diseases
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Under
the research collaboration, Roche will use its screening
capabilities to investigate three mutually agreed
targets in the field of inflammatory diseases. Amira
will then utilize its expertise to optimize the lead
compounds generated. Roche will have opt-in rights
on two of those compounds.
Under a separate licensing option agreement, Amira
may license two pre-determined clinical programs from
Roche in specific indications in exchange for equity,
milestones and royalties.
Amira is a startup company specialized in the field
of inflammatory diseases. The firm is funded by investors
that include Avalon Ventures, Prospect Ventures and
Versant Ventures. The alliance with Amira complements
Roche’s broad research efforts in inflammation and
provides the company with access to innovative external
capabilities in a strategic therapeutic area.
“In the past, we referred to a ‘win-win’ alliance
between pharma and biotech partners,” said Peter Hug,
Roche’s Global Head of Pharma Partnering. “Through
this new model, we have created a ‘win-win-win’ deal
structure where three main players, Roche, Amira and
the venture community, are all benefiting from a joint
effort to develop potential new medicines for patients.”
“We are very excited to collaborate with Roche. This
alliance reinforces the proven pharmaceutical background
of Amira’s scientists and positions Amira to develop
an outstanding pipeline of novel drug candidates for
a broad array of inflammation-based disorders. We
look forward to a long and productive partnership,”
said Peppi Prasit, Chief Scientific Officer of Amira.
Brad Bolzon, Managing Director at Versant Ventures
said, “The investors are impressed that a broad, strategic
pharma partnership could be established at such an
early stage in the development of Amira. Together
with financing from Avalon, Prospect and Versant,
this deal should enable Amira to rapidly build itself
into a strong R&D based company in this important
therapeutic area.”
Terms of the Agreement
Research collaboration
Roche will screen its compound repository against
three targets and will transfer any hits to Amira.
In exchange, Roche will have opt-in rights on two
of the programs. If Roche exercises its option, Amira
could receive up to $287 million in total event payments,
plus royalties.
Amira’s option to license Roche clinical programs
Amira will have a one year option to license two of
Roche’s existing clinical stage programs, in specific
indications. Should Amira exercise its option to these
programs, Roche may receive a significant percentage
of Amira’s stock. Additionally, if these two programs
meet all development events, Roche could receive up
to $20 million, in addition to royalties.
Inflammatory Research at Roche
Roche has active programs in Inflammation, Autoimmune
Disease and Transplant (IAT) research. With its broad
development pipeline and existing medicines in IAT
(i.e., MabThera, CellCept and Actemra), Roche has
the potential to become a leading provider of novel
medicines for a range of diseases in this area in
the future. The company’s IAT research portfolio includes
research on small molecules and biologics involving
targets such as B cells and inflammatory cytokine
responses. Therefore, this alliance with Amira complements
Roche’s existing research efforts and provides the
company with added knowledge and expertise in the
area of leukotriene pathways.
About Roche as a Partner
Roche is a valued partner to more than 50 companies
worldwide. Over the past two years, Roche has led
the pharmaceutical industry in the number of clinical
compound deals signed. In 2005, Roche entered into
nine partnerships to jointly develop products for
optimal patient benefit and value. Partnerships continue
to strengthen Roche’s positions in oncology, virology,
transplantation, and primary care. Roche’s partnering
culture encourages innovation through a unique pairing
of collaboration and autonomy.
About Amira
Founded in 2005 and headquartered in San Diego, Amira
Pharmaceuticals is a privately-held biopharmaceutical
company, focused on leveraging the deep expertise
of an experienced scientific team in the field of
inflammatory diseases. The founding team at Amira
has over 100 cumulative years of drug discovery experience,
which includes the development of marketed drugs for
a variety of indications. Its scientific founders
include Peppi Prasit, Jilly Evans and John Hutchinson,
who have successfully worked together for over a decade.
Amira has raised $9 million to date from investors
that include Avalon Ventures (San Diego, CA), Prospect
Ventures (Palo Alto, CA) and Versant Ventures (Menlo
Park, CA). For more information, visit http://www.amirapharm.com/.
About Roche
Headquartered in Basel, Switzerland, Roche is one
of the world’s leading research-focused healthcare
groups in the fields of pharmaceuticals and diagnostics.
As a supplier of innovative products and services
for the early detection, prevention, diagnosis and
treatment of disease, the Group contributes on a broad
range of fronts to improving people’s health and quality
of life. Roche is a world leader in diagnostics, the
leading supplier of medicines for cancer and transplantation
and a market leader in virology. Roche employs roughly
65,000 people in 150 countries and has R&D agreements
and strategic alliances with numerous partners, including
majority ownership interests in Genentech and Chugai.
Additional information about the Roche Group is available
on the Internet (http://www.roche.com/).
All trademarks used or mentioned in this release
are legally |
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