Date: 2015-01-16
Type of information: Company acquisition
Acquired company: Trophos (France)
Acquiring company: Roche (Switzerland)
Amount: up to €470 million
Terms: * On January 16, 2014, Roche announced that it has agreed to acquire Trophos, a privately held biotechnology company based in Marseille, France. Trophos’s proprietary screening platform generated olesoxime (TRO19622), is being developed for spinal muscular atrophy (SMA) – a rare and debilitating genetic neuromuscular disease that is most commonly diagnosed in children. Results from a pivotal phase II clinical trial with olesoxime in SMA showed a beneficial effect on the maintenance of neuromuscular function in individuals with Type II and non-ambulatory Type III SMA, as well as a reduction in medical complications associated with the disease. These data were first presented in April 2014 at the annual meeting of the American Academy of Neurology (AAN). Under the terms of the agreement, Trophos’s shareholders will receive an upfront cash payment of €120 million, plus additional contingent payments of up to €350 million based on achievement of certain predetermined milestones.
Details: Trophos was founded in 1999 and is based in Marseille, France. It is supported by a syndicate of private equity funds including ACG Management, OTC Agregator, Amundi Private Equity Funds, Turenne Capital, Sofipaca and Vesale Partners, as well as the French Muscular Dystrophy Association (AFM). The company has developed a proprietary cholesterol-oxime based chemistry platform. Trophos’s mitochondrial targeted compounds enhance the function and survival of stressed cells by preventing mitochondrial permeability transition, a key determinant of cell death or survival. Trophos has developed olesoxime (TRO19622), an investigational medicine designed to protect the health of motor nerve cells. Olesoxime has been granted ‘Orphan Medicinal Product’ designation for the treatment of SMA by the European Medicines Agency in 2005 and orphan drug designation by the FDA in 2009.
Related: Rare diseases - Neuromuscular diseases
