Roche subsidiary Genentech has signed a global drug discovery and licensing agreement with UK biotech Astex Pharmaceuticals worth up to $490 million. Roche will pay $25 million upfront, with more than $465 million tied to preclinical, clinical, regulatory, and sales milestones, plus tiered royalties on net sales of any commercialized medicines.
The deal gives Genentech exclusive rights to compounds from Astex’s breast cancer drug discovery program. The two companies will work together to identify selective, small-molecule cell cycle regulating compounds and develop new preclinical candidates. Genentech will lead preclinical and clinical development and assume commercial responsibility for any therapies that reach market.
Astex’s program originated from a collaboration between Newcastle University and Cancer Research Horizons, the innovation arm of Cancer Research UK, focused on fragment-based drug discovery. Astex president Michelle Jones said the work has identified a “novel and innovative approach to selectively inhibit” the target.
The agreement extends Roche’s breast cancer franchise, built on Herceptin (trastuzumab) and Perjeta (pertuzumab). It follows a string of oncology moves by the company, including a $2.3 billion blood cancer deal with Nurix Therapeutics and the $1.05 billion acquisition of digital pathology company PathAI.
