Roche to acquire Promedior

LEXINGTON, Mass. and BASEL, Switzerland—Promedior, Inc. and Roche Holding AG have entered into a definitive merger agreement for Roche to acquire Promedior. Roche will obtain full rights to Promedior’s entire portfolio of molecules for serious fibrotic diseases, notably PRM-151. Under the terms of the agreement, Roche will make an upfront cash payment of US $390 million, plus additional contingent payments of up to US $1 billion based on the achievement of certain development, regulatory and commercial milestones.

“With over a decade of research, development and investment, Promedior has demonstrated the unique ability of its pentraxin-2 platform to deliver disease-modifying potential in fibrotic disorders,” said Jason Lettmann, chief executive officer of Promedior and general partner of Lightstone Ventures. “Due to Roche’s strong expertise in IPF, hematological cancer and other fibrotic disorders, we believe Roche is ideally positioned to bring the potential of our platform to patients and provide new treatment options within these areas of urgent unmet medical need.”

Promedior has successfully advanced PRM-151 in human clinical trials. The company received Breakthrough Therapy designation from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration earlier this year for idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF). PRM-151, a recombinant form of human pentraxin-2 (PTX-2) protein, has demonstrated both prevention and reversal of fibrosis and may open up new opportunities to treat a wide range of systemic fibrotic diseases.

Promedior’s drug candidates are based on pentraxin-2, which is an endogenous human protein specifically active at the site of tissue damage. PTX-2 works as an agonist which acts as a macrophage polarization factor to initiate a resolution process for prevention and potential reversal of fibrosis, thereby working as a master regulator upstream in the fibrosis cascade.

Phase 2 trial results demonstrated that PRM-151 is the first molecule to show significant lung function improvements on top of current therapies in IPF. PRM-151 has also shown promising early clinical trial data in myelofibrosis (MF) and its anti-fibrotic mechanism has therapeutic potential in other fibrotic diseases.

“We are excited to combine Promedior’s portfolio with our drug development capabilities to further advance PRM-151 in fibrotic diseases, including IPF and MF. With our proven track record in IPF with Esbriet, as well as in hematological cancers, we are well-positioned to leverage our clinical and commercial expertise to bring PRM-151 to patients as fast as possible,” added James Sabry, M.D., Ph.D., global head of Roche Pharma Partnering.