Roche to acquire Santaris

Roche (SIX:ROG; OTCQX:RHHBY) will acquire partner Santaris Pharma A/S (Horsholm, Denmark) for $250 million in cash up front and up to $200 million in undisclosed milestones. Santaris is using its locked nucleic acid (LNA) platform to develop antisense drug candidates. Lead candidate miravirsen, an LNA-modified phosphorothioate antisense oligonucleotide targeting microRNA-122, is in Phase II testing to treat HCV.

In January, Santaris and Roche partnered to discover and develop RNA-targeted drugs against multiple undisclosed targets for several undisclosed disease areas (see BioCentury Extra, Jan. 9). ...