Investor Update
Basel, 19 July 2005
Roche
acquires Swiss based GlycArt Biotechnology to strengthen expertise in therapeutic antibody research
Roche today announced that it has signed an agreement to acquire
100% of GlycArt Biotechnology AG, a privately owned Swiss biotech company. GlycArt’s unique technology
for enhancing the efficacy of antibodies will further strengthen Roche’s expertise in therapeutic antibody
research and development.
“This acquisition is an excellent strategic
fit with our Therapeutic Protein Initiative and our focus on developing clinically differentiated proteins
and antibodies for areas of unmet medical need, such as oncology” said Franz B. Humer, Chairman and
CEO of the Roche Group. “We are excited about this significant addition of cutting- edge technology
to our R&D organization. We welcome GlycArt and its employees to our worldwide Pharma organisation.”
“We
are delighted to become an integral part of the Roche Group, and believe that Roche’s outstanding capabilities
in biopharmaceutical R&D, manufacturing and commercialisation will give our product candidates and
technologies an excellent opportunity to realise their full potential”, said Joël Jean-Mairet, CEO of
GlycArt. “Since September 2004 we have enjoyed an exciting and synergistic collaboration with
Roche, and we very much look forward to continuing to contribute to Roche’s expanding antibody pipeline”.
GlycArt
owns the proprietary GlycoMAb glycosylation technology which is a method of increasing the potency
of therapeutic antibodies targeting undesirable cells by engineering the carbohydrate component present
in all such antibodies. In particular, GlycoMAb specifically increases antibody-dependent cellular
cytotoxicity (ADCC), an immune effector mechanism crucial for the in vivo target-cell killing activity
of antibodies. GlycoMAb thus has the potential to generate best-in-class antibody therapeutics in disease
areas such as oncology, where Roche is the global market leader. In addition Roche will acquire GlycArt’s
development pipeline which includes three monoclonal antibodies in preclinical development for cancer.
Roche plans to maintain the GlycArt facility in Zurich-Schlieren as
a fully integrated part of the Roche Pharma research organisation.
Roche will pay approximately
235 million Swiss francs in cash in exchange for all of GlycArt’s outstanding capital stock. The
transaction is expected to close in the third quarter of 2005.
About
GlycArt Biotechnology AG
GlycArt is a privately held Swiss biotechnology company
focussed on the development and commercialisation of a new generation of antibody products based on
its proprietary GlycoMAb technology. GlycArt has generated its own GlycoMAb-based antibody portfolio
by in-licensing and acquiring antibodies at early stages of development and applying GlycoMAb to them.
GlycArt’s current focus is on next-generation antibody therapeutics against well-characterised and clinically
validated targets, but the company is also taking advantage of its broad technological capabilities
in antibody humanisation, expression and screening. GlycArt was founded in 2000 as a spin-off from the
Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (ETH) in Zurich, and is located in Zurich-Schlieren. Since its
inception, the firm has been backed by a broad investment syndicate consisting of Novartis Venture Fund,
GLSV, Gilde, DVC, ABN AMRO Capital, Quester and BioMed Invest.
About
GlycoMAb
GlycoMAb is a fully developed technology platform that efficiently increases
the specific biological activity of therapeutic monoclonal antibodies for target cell ablation. It is
based on an active modulation of antibody glycosylation during production leading to antibody products
with increased ADCC (antibody-dependent cellular cytotoxicity). A high relevance for therapeutic efficacy,
industrial scale applicability, broad patent protection and an extensive body of proof (including external
validation) are the distinctive hallmarks of this technology.
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. In
2004 sales by the Pharmaceuticals Division totalled 21.7 billion Swiss francs, while the Diagnostics
Division posted sales of 7.8 billion Swiss francs. 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 at www.roche.com.
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