Roche Will Use Technology From Isis To Develop Brain-disorder Drug

Roche and Isis Pharmaceuticals formed an alliance to develop treatments for Huntington's disease based on Isis' antisense oligonucleotide (ASO) technology, Isis announced in a press release. This alliance combines Isis' antisense expertise with Roche's scientific expertise in developing neurodegenerative therapeutics. In addition, Isis and Roche will be collaborating to combine Isis' ASOs and Roche's proprietary "brain shuttle" program with the objective of increasing the brain penetration of ASOs with systemic administration.

Under the terms of the agreement, Roche will make an upfront payment of $30 million to Isis, with total payments related to license fee and pre- and post-licensing milestone payments reaching potentially $362 million, including up to $80 million in potential commercial milestone payments. In addition, Isis will receive tiered royalties on sales of the drugs. Roche has the option to license the drugs from Isis through the completion of the first Phase 1 trial.