SWITZERLAND— Swiss pharmaceutical giant Roche has announced plans to acquire Poseida Therapeutics, a California-based biotech company, for US$1 billion upfront in cash.
This acquisition will give Roche access to Poseida’s innovative pipeline of off-the-shelf CAR-T cell therapies.
As part of the agreement, Roche will buy all outstanding shares of Poseida at US$9 per share—a 215% premium on Monday’s closing price.
Additionally, Roche is offering a contingent value right (CVR) of up to US$4 per share based on achieving specific milestones, bringing the deal’s total potential value to US$1.5 billion.
The transaction is expected to be finalized in the first quarter of 2025, subject to regulatory and antitrust approvals and other standard conditions.
Both companies’ boards have approved the agreement, and Poseida has encouraged its shareholders to tender their shares.
This acquisition builds on a collaboration established in 2022 between Roche, Poseida, and Genentech, a member of the Roche Group.
The partnership focused on developing advanced off-the-shelf CAR-T cell therapies to treat patients with blood cancers.
Poseida’s lead programme, P-BCMA-ALLO1, targets B-cell maturation antigen (BCMA) in patients with multiple myeloma who have undergone at least three prior therapies.
This therapy has received Regenerative Medicine Advanced Therapy and FDA Orphan Drug designations, demonstrating its potential for addressing unmet medical needs.
Early clinical data from this program were presented at the International Myeloma Society annual meeting in September 2023.
Another promising candidate is P-CD19CD20-ALLO1, a dual-target CAR-T therapy currently in Phase 1 trials for B-cell malignancies.
Poseida is also exploring the application of CAR-T therapies beyond oncology, with FDA Investigational New Drug applications submitted for multiple sclerosis and lupus.
Roche’s Head of Product Development, Levi Garraway, emphasized that this acquisition would accelerate progress in cell therapy, leveraging the early successes of the partnership with Poseida.
He expressed optimism about advancing first- and best-in-class oncology, immunology, and neurology therapies.
Once the deal is complete, Roche will acquire Poseida’s manufacturing facilities, research assets, and expertise, including their solid-tumour programme P-MUC1C-ALLO1 and genomic medicine technologies.
Poseida employees will join Roche’s Pharmaceuticals Division, further integrating the companies’ shared vision of pioneering transformative cell therapies.
Sign up HERE to receive our email newsletters with the latest news and insights from Africa and around the world, and follow us on our WhatsApp channel for updates.
