Roche Delves Into Therapeutic Antibodies and Vaccines

Roche (Basel, Switzerland, www.roche.com) has acquired Therapeutic Human Polyclonals, Inc. (THP, Mountain View, CA, www.polyclonals.com), a privately-owned biotechnology company based in California and Germany. THP has developed a unique transgenic mammalian platform to create human antibodies. The technology will enable the generation of both monoclonal and polyclonal antibody therapeutics with enhanced efficacy. With its focus on innovative antibody research, THP will be a valuable addition to Roche’s research organization. Roche paid $56.5 million in cash to acquire 100% ownership of THP and plans to fully integrate THP into the Roche Pharma Center of Excellence for Protein Research in Penzberg, Germany.

In another alliance, Roche has inked a pact with Transgene (Strasbourg Cedex, France, www.transgene.fr) for therapeutic vaccines against HPV-mediated diseases. The companies have entered into an exclusive worldwide collaboration agreement to develop and commercialize products from Transgene’s therapeutic vaccine program against Human Papilloma Virus-mediated diseases. The Human Papilloma Virus (HPV) is associated with the development of precancerous lesions and cancer of the cervix. The agreement includes Transgene's lead therapeutic vaccine candidate TG 4001 (MVA-HPV-IL2), currently in clinical development to treat high grade cervical intraepithelial neoplasia (CIN2/3), a precancerous cervical abnormality that can lead to cervical cancer.