Roche to buy majority stake in Foundation for up to $1.18 billion

Reuters

Published Jan 12, 2015 02:25AM ET

Roche to buy majority stake in Foundation for up to $1.18 billion

ZURICH/LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Roche Holding will acquire a majority stake in molecular and genomic analysis firm Foundation Medicine Inc for up to $1.18 billion, it said on Monday, in a move to bolster the Swiss drugmaker's personalized cancer treatments.

This targeted approach to treating disease is gaining traction in many medical fields and is attractive to governments and insurers who pay for healthcare, since it means that drugs should go only to patients who are likely to benefit.

Basel-based Roche, which will buy U.S.-based Foundation through a combination of outstanding and newly issued shares, said it is looking for the deal to help to develop combination therapies and more accurately identify cancer patients.

"The intention is to improve decision-making and support optimization of patient care as oncology management becomes more complex," Roche said in a statement.

The drugmaker said it will tender for about 15.6 million Foundation shares at $50 a share, worth up to about $780 million, at a premium of 109 percent to their Friday closing price. Roche will also invest $250 million in Foundation by acquiring 5 million newly issued shares at $50 per share.

The transactions will result in Roche owning between 52.4 percent and 56.3 percent of Foundation, based in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Roche will obtain minority representation on the board of Foundation, which will retain its current management team.

The initial focus of the collaboration will be on developing genomic profile tests for cancer immunotherapies and for continuous blood-based monitoring. The companies said the deal includes the potential for more than $150 million in additional funding by Roche.

The acquisition comes on the heels of two others. Roche said last month that it would buy privately-held Bina Technologies for an undisclosed price and pay up to $489 million to acquire Austrian biotech company Dutalys.