Roche, U.S. biotech strike deal worth up to $2 billion to develop cardiovascular and metabolic disease drugs

Roche has entered into a collaboration worth up to $2 billion with U.S. blood disease biotech Atavistik Bio to develop treatments for cardiovascular, renal and metabolic (CVRM) diseases.

According to Fierce Biotech on the 24th (local time), Roche will pay Atavistik $70 million upfront, with up to an additional $1.9 billion in deferred payments tied to milestones.

The companies will use Atavistik’s metabolite-protein screening (AMPS) platform to identify new functional binding sites on proteins and use them as a basis for developing treatments for CVRM diseases.

Atavistik will handle early discovery and research, while Roche will take over development beginning at the preclinical stage.

Atavistik said its platform enables the development of small-molecule drugs targeting targets that have previously been difficult to modulate.

The company’s lead pipeline candidate is ATV-1601, an oral allosteric AKT1 inhibitor for hereditary hemorrhagic telangiectasia, which is currently in a Phase 1/2 trial.

Atavistik CEO Brian Stewart said, “This collaboration demonstrates the strength and broad applicability of our platform across therapeutic areas.”

Roche has historically focused on cancer drugs but has recently expanded into CVRM. It is co-developing the hypertension drug zilebesiran with Alnylam, acquired 89bio for $3.5 billion and bought Carmot Therapeutics for $2.7 billion, gaining obesity and diabetes pipeline assets.

Boris Zaitra, Roche’s head of corporate business development, said, “Treating CVRM diseases is a key strategic priority for Roche. By combining Atavistik’s novel approach with Roche’s expertise in disease biology and drug development, we will create oral small-molecule treatments that patients need.”