Roche’s $1.7B precision medicine acquisition of Ignyta targets cancers with rare mutations

Swiss pharma giant Roche has given itself a pricey holiday gift and deepened its oncology product portfolio with its $1.7 billion acquisition of immuno-oncology business Ignyta. Based in San Diego, the company tests identifies, and treat patients with cancers that come with rare mutations.
Ignyta’s lead molecule, entrectinib, is currently in Phase 2 clinical trials targeting rare mutations in nonsmall cell lung cancer and solid tumors. The deal is expected to be completed in the second half of 2018
The acquisition comes at a time when Roche’s blockbuster drug for breast cancer, Herceptin, is facing increased competition from the biosimilar Ogivri from Mylan and other rivals, The Wall Street Journal observed. Herceptin generated $6.9 billion in revenue for Roche last year.
Biopharma companies with cancer treatments, especially those with commercial-ready drugs, have been a hot target for M&A deals this year. Takeda Pharmaceuticals agreed to acquire ARIAD Pharmaceuticals for $5.1 billion. The deal gives Takeda ARIAD’s leukemia drug Iclusig. Ipsen’s acquisition of Merrimack Pharmaceuticals’ oncology assets for roughly $1 billion adds Merrimack’s recently approved therapeutic for metastatic pancreatic cancer, which was approved in 2015.