Roche secures global rights to Alector’s Parkinson’s drug candidate in US$1.27B deal
Under the agreement, Roche’s Genentech subsidiary will oversee development, regulatory activities, manufacturing and commercialisation across all indications.
GERMANY—Roche has agreed to pay up to US$1.27 billion for global rights to Alector’s experimental Parkinson’s disease treatment, adding a candidate designed to improve drug delivery to the brain to its neurodegenerative disease pipeline.
The agreement includes a US$100 million upfront payment to Alector, a US biotechnology company, for AL050, a preclinical enzyme replacement therapy targeting glucocerebrosidase (GCase) deficiency.
Alector could receive another US$1.17 billion if the programme meets specified development, regulatory, and commercial milestones.
Brain delivery platform targets GCase deficiency
AL050 aims to address reduced GCase activity, a factor associated with neurodegeneration in Parkinson’s disease, particularly among people carrying mutations in the GBA1 gene. GCase helps cells break down and recycle waste materials.
When its activity declines, certain lipids and abnormal proteins can accumulate in brain cells, contributing to cellular dysfunction.
Alector has engineered the GCase enzyme to cross the blood-brain barrier using its proprietary Alector Brain Carrier (ABC) platform.
This approach aims to deliver the enzyme to the brain, where it can break down glucosylceramide and glucosylsphingosine, lipids that accumulate when GCase function is impaired.
The programme addresses a longstanding challenge in neurological drug development.
Many treatments struggle to reach the brain at sufficient concentrations because the blood-brain barrier restricts the passage of therapeutic molecules.
Improved delivery could broaden the potential of enzyme-based approaches, but AL050 is still in the preclinical stage, and its safety and efficacy in humans have not yet been established.
Under the agreement, Roche’s Genentech subsidiary will oversee development, regulatory activities, manufacturing and commercialisation across all indications.
Alector will retain ownership of the ABC platform and can continue using it for other programmes in its pipeline.
Deal boosts Alector shares
Alector’s shares rose about 50% at the market open on 5 October, reaching US$2.73 from a close of US$1.81 on 2 October.
The stock subsequently retreated, closing at US$1.99, up 9.9% from the previous session.
AL050 is one of three preclinical candidates in Alector’s pipeline, which also includes an alpha-synuclein small interfering RNA (siRNA) programme for Parkinson’s disease and an NLRP3-targeting siRNA candidate for Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s diseases.
The portfolio combines approaches that target different biological mechanisms involved in neurodegeneration.
Roche expands Parkinson’s research
The agreement adds another approach to Roche’s efforts to develop treatments for Parkinson’s disease, for which no approved therapy currently reverses or cures the condition.
The pharmaceutical group has pursued collaborations with Shape Therapeutics in recent years, though it did not disclose the financial terms of those agreements.
Roche is also developing prasinezumab, a monoclonal antibody targeting alpha-synuclein, which it licensed from Prothena in 2013 under a US$600 million agreement.
The antibody has progressed through clinical development, giving Roche a separate approach to investigating the disease’s underlying biology.
Alector chief executive Arnon Rosenthal said developing a treatment for GCase deficiency requires both an enzyme with suitable activity and durability and an effective way to deliver it to the brain.
He said AL050 combines an engineered GCase enzyme with the company’s ABC technology, which is designed to cross the blood-brain barrier.
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