The OMass partnership will boost Roche’s strategy in inflammatory bowel diseases, currently led by afimkibart, an anti-TL1A therapy the pharma obtained from its $7.1 billion acquisition of Telavant in 2023.
Roche’s subsidiary Genentech is fronting $20 million to partner with England-based biotech OMass Therapeutics and advance the British company’s preclinical small-molecule program for inflammatory bowel diseases.
Genentech is also pledging more than $400 million in preclinical, development, commercial and net sales milestone payments. OMasswill also be eligible to receive tiered royalties on net sales, as per Tuesday’s release. The biotech will continue to lead preclinical development of the IBD program and see it through to candidate selection, after which Genentech will assume leadership and be responsible for clinical studies, regulatory activities and commercialization.
In exchange for its investment, Genentech will have the exclusive right over the program developed using OMass’ proprietary OdyssION drug discovery platform.
The companies did not disclose in their announcement on Tuesday what specific targets they plan to go after, nor did they provide a timeline for when they expect clinical development to start.
Roche’s IBD efforts are anchored by the anti-TL1A antibody RVT-3101, which the pharma obtained in October 2023 when it acquired the Roivant subsidiary Telavant for $7.1 billion. The pharma has since renamed the molecule afimkibart and has taken it into Phase III development for Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis. Roche anticipates a regulatory filing for ulcerative colitis in 2027 and for Crohn’s disease around 2028, as per its second-quarter earnings report in July.
For Roche, the OMass deal follows other partnerships that it has inked this year, including a $5.3 billion agreement with Zealand Pharma in March for the biotech’s obesity candidate petrelinitide. In May, the pharma put more than $2 billion on the line in a molecular glue deal with Orionis Biosciences, while in July, Tokyo-based Chugai Pharmaceuticals—which is majority owned by Roche—partnered with AI-focused Gero for over $1 billion to target age-related diseases.
Other industry heavy-hitters are also working on IBD, including Merck, which in April 2023 dropped $10.8 billion to buy Prometheus Biosciences,gaining ownership of PRA023, an anti-TL1A monoclonal antibody. The molecule is now called tulisokibart and is in late-stage development for Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis. Joining Roche and Merck is Sanofi, which in October 2023 bet $1.5 billion to partner with Teva and advance their own TL1A program for IBD.
