Partnership includes both a broad R&D collaboration with the potential for more than USD 150 million funding by Roche to accelerate FMI’s new product development initiatives
Roche and Foundation Medicine (FMI) will enter into a broad strategic collaboration to further advance FMI’s market-leading position in molecular information and genomic analysis while providing Roche a unique opportunity to optimise the identification and development of novel treatment options for cancer patients.
Under the terms of the R&D collaboration agreement, Roche is committing to R&D funding of potentially more than $150 million for a minimum of five years and will contribute its expertise and breadth in oncology. FMI will continue to operate independently and will contribute its experience in the development of comprehensive genomic profiling tests for oncology. The initial focus of the R&D collaboration will be on developing genomic profile tests for cancer immunotherapies and for continuous blood-based monitoring.
Roche will be able to utilise FMI’s proprietary molecular information platform to standardise clinical trial testing. This aspect of the relationship is designed to enable comparability of clinical trial results for R&D purposes, and ultimately in the clinic. FMI’s pharma business will not be impacted and could be enhanced as FMI capabilities increase with the investments and experience in working with Roche as a customer.
The R&D collaboration and FMI’s current and future tests are expected to deliver insights to support development of combination therapies, novel targets, more accurate patient population identification and inclusion in clinical trials, and next generation companion diagnostics. The intention is to improve decision making and support optimisation of patient care as oncology management becomes more complex.
In addition to the R&D collaboration, both parties also agreed to a commercial collaboration agreement designed to broaden FMI’s position across clinical and molecular information markets. Specifically, Roche will obtain rights ex-US (under the FMI brand) to existing FMI products, as well as to future co-developed products. In the US, Roche will engage its US medical education team in providing medical information to pathologists.
The collaboration agreements will become effective upon the completion of Roche’s direct investment in FMI and the tender offer, as described below.
EP News Bureau – Mumbai