Roche\u2019s Genentech unit has handed over $20 million in upfront cash for the license to Omass Therapeutics\u2019 preclinical inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) program.<\/p>\n
The program is the product of Omass\u2019 OdyssION platform, which the British biotech has designed<\/a> as a way to \u201cinterrogate how a protein interacts with its native ecosystem, separate from the confounding complexity of the cell.\u201d<\/p>\n For now, Omass will continue to lead on the preclinical development of the IBD program. Once a specific candidate has been selected, Genentech will take over when it comes to moving the drug through human trials, regulatory activities and, ultimately, to commercialization.<\/p>\n Should the resulting drug make it all the way to market, Omass could be in line for preclinical, development, commercial and net sales milestone payments that combine to reach more than $400 million, as well as tiered royalties, according to a Sept. 2 release.<\/p>\n Roche made a big move<\/a> into the IBD space with its $7.1 billion upfront payment to Roivant and Pfizer for the U.S. and Japan rights to their bowel disease candidate afimkibart back in 2023. Roche has since taken the anti-TL1A antibody into a phase 3 study for Crohn’s disease<\/a> (PDF)\u2014one of the most common types of IBD\u2014as well as phase 2 studies for dermatitis and metabolic dysfunction-associated steatohepatitis.<\/p>\n \u201cThere are nearly 8 million people living with IBD who are in need of innovative treatment approaches,\u201d Boris Za\u00eftra, head of Roche corporate business development, said in this morning’s release. \u201cDespite recent advancements, there is still a high unmet medical need which fuels our commitment to partnering with companies such as OMass Therapeutics focused on innovation to accelerate potentially transformative medicines and advance science.\u201d<\/p>\n