NUTLEY, NJ and CAMBRIDGE, MA – November 28, 2012 – Today, Roche (SIX: RO, ROG; OTCQX: RHHBY), through its Translational and Clinical Research Center, and the Broad Institute announced a multi-year collaboration designed to identify novel indications for promising development-stage compounds using the Broad Institute’s cutting-edge platforms of screening technologies. In a novel approach to create value for compounds that failed to meet critical phase 2 milestones or were otherwise halted for strategic reasons, Roche has prepared a collection of more than 300 compounds intended for diverse indications. Roche has made these compounds, collectively known as the Roche Repurposing Compound Collection (RRCC), available to the Broad Institute to identify alternative uses for patients. Financial terms of the agreement were not disclosed. The Broad Institute is well positioned to leverage its sophisticated toolbox of biological assays and disease expertise to uncover new therapeutic indications for Roche’s high-quality compounds. By screening the entire RRCC, the Broad Institute will link advanced compounds to novel patient populations through common biochemical pathways. This approach is expected to reveal unique targets for new drug discovery projects. Additionally, novel disease associations may be found that will lead rapidly to new clinical evaluations in which the compounds have a higher probability of success.
“We look forward to collaborating with the Broad Institute to identify new uses for compounds in our RRCC,” said Karen Lackey, Head, Medicinal Chemistry at Roche. “Over the last 20 years of drug discovery we have created many drug candidates that did not make it to market. By compiling these compounds into an annotated set and collaborating with the Broad Institute to put to use its technologies and disease expertise, we hope to discover ways to repurpose these compounds that will be beneficial for patients.”
“The compounds in Roche’s collection are compelling starting points: if we can find new applications for them, we may be able to accelerate the process of finding the right drug for the right patient,” said Brian Hubbard, Director of the Broad Institute’s Therapeutics Discovery and Development Platform. “In the course of this project, we will be using multiple, novel methods developed at the Broad Institute to identify these new therapeutic indications. By partnering with Roche, we hope to bring the benefits of these discoveries to patients.”
About Roche
Headquartered in Basel, Switzerland, Roche is a leader in research-focused healthcare with combined strengths in pharmaceuticals and diagnostics. Roche is the world’s largest biotech company with truly differentiated medicines in oncology, virology, inflammation, metabolism and CNS. Roche is also the world leader in in-vitro diagnostics, tissue-based cancer diagnostics and a pioneer in diabetes management. Roche’s personalized healthcare strategy aims at providing medicines and diagnostic tools that enable tangible improvements in the health, quality of life and survival of patients. In 2011, Roche had over 80,000 employees worldwide and invested over 8 billion Swiss francs ($9 billion US) in R&D. The Group posted sales of 42.5 billion Swiss francs ($47.8 billion US). Genentech, Inc. is a wholly owned member of the Roche Group. Roche has a majority stake in Chugai Pharmaceutical, Japan. For more information: www.roche.com. About the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard The Eli and Edythe L. Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard was founded in 2003 to empower this generation of creative scientists to transform medicine with new genome-based knowledge. The Broad Institute seeks to describe all the molecular components of life and their connections; discover the molecular basis of major human diseases; develop effective new approaches to diagnostics and therapeutics; and disseminate discoveries, tools, methods and data openly to the entire scientific community. Founded by MIT, Harvard and its affiliated hospitals, and the visionary Los Angeles philanthropists Eli and Edythe L. Broad, the Broad Institute includes faculty, professional staff and students from throughout the MIT and Harvard biomedical research communities and beyond, with collaborations spanning over a hundred private and public institutions in more than 40 countries worldwide. For further information about the Broad Institute, go to www.broadinstitute.org.
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Public Affairs Department
Contacts: Darien E. Wilson Haley Bridger Roche Broad Institute 973-562-2232 617-714-7968
Darien_e.wilson@roche.com hbridger@broadinstitute.org
