Swiss pharma giant, Roche, bought the rest of Foundation Medicine for $2.4 billion on Tuesday. Foundation Medicine is a company that collects genetic data from samples of cancer tissue or blood. Roche already held a majority stake in Foundation Medicine, making the deal value at $5.3 billion. The deal comes as a 29% premium to where Foundation Medicine’s stock closed on Monday.
This deal is Roche’s second cancer-data related purchase of 2018. The company bought Flatiron Health, a healthcare technology startup out of New York that collects clinical data from cancer patients, for $1.9 billion earlier this year.
Foundation Medicine also works with pharmaceutical companies in creating tests that have the potential to better predict if a person would respond to a certain cancer treatment called immunotherapy.
Foundation Medicine will continue operating independently as part of the deal with Roche.
Troy Cox, Foundation CEO stated, “Joining forces with Roche as an independent operating company allows Foundation Medicine to continue its collaboration with Roche, as well as our biopharma partners, to drive ubiquitous access to CGP testing and innovative data services.”
Another company working on innovations for the treatment of breast cancer is Seattle based Atossa Genetics (NasdaqCM: ATOS). Recently, Atossa announced that it has opened its Phase 2 study of proprietary topical Endoxifen on mammographic breast density, or MBD, reduction. Studies by others have shown that a reduction in MBD reduces the risk of developing breast cancer and may potentially improve the accuracy of mammography in finding cancer.
The Phase 2 study is being conducted at Stockholm South General Hospital in Sweden and is being led by principal investigator Dr. Per Hall, MD, Ph.D., Head of the Department of Medical Epidemiology and Biostatistics at Karolinska Institutet.
“Opening our first Phase 2 study using our proprietary topical Endoxifen marks a major milestone in our clinical development,” commented Steve Quay, Ph.D., MD, President and CEO of Atossa. “We look forward to working with Dr. Hall and his clinic to enroll women in this ground-breaking study and to move our topical Endoxifen a step closer to treating women with MBD. We are also making progress with our proprietary oral Endoxifen and have been evaluating a potential new indication in the pre-surgery, or “window of opportunity,” setting which involves treating newly diagnosed breast cancer patients prior to surgery. We believe this indication could have a quicker clinical and regulatory pathway. We plan to start a Phase 2 study in the next quarter in this window of opportunity setting and/or a Phase 2 study in breast cancer survivors who are “refractory” to tamoxifen,” added Dr. Quay.
The primary endpoint is to determine if topical Endoxifen administration results in an individual change in MBD, which will be measured after three and six months of entering the study. The secondary endpoints are safety and tolerability. Ninety participants will be randomized to one of three groups (one placebo group and two groups of different strengths of topical Endoxifen) with 30 participants per group. The objective of the study is to determine if MBD is reduced, and if so, the results will drive sample size calculations for a future Phase III study. Enrollment is anticipated to be completed by the end of 2018.
Vista Partners LLC (”Vista”) is a California Registered Investment Advisor based in San Francisco. Vista delivers timely and relevant insights via the website: www.vistapglobal.com with daily stories, weekly market updates, monthly macroeconomic newsletters, podcasts, & Vista’s proprietary equity and market research to help you stay informed and stay competitive. Vista’s mission is to invest partner capital while arming investors with a comprehensive global financial perspective across all market sectors. Vista also seeks to provide select issuers with actionable advice regarding fundamental development, corporate governance, and capital market directives.
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Swiss pharma giant, Roche, bought the rest of Foundation Medicine for $2.4 billion on Tuesday. Foundation Medicine is a company that collects genetic data from samples of cancer tissue or blood. Roche already held a majority stake in Foundation Medicine, making the deal value at $5.3 billion. The deal comes as a 29% premium to where Foundation Medicine’s stock closed on Monday.
This deal is Roche’s second cancer-data related purchase of 2018. The company bought Flatiron Health, a healthcare technology startup out of New York that collects clinical data from cancer patients, for $1.9 billion earlier this year.
Foundation Medicine also works with pharmaceutical companies in creating tests that have the potential to better predict if a person would respond to a certain cancer treatment called immunotherapy.
Foundation Medicine will continue operating independently as part of the deal with Roche.
Another company working on innovations for the treatment of breast cancer is Seattle based Atossa Genetics (NasdaqCM: ATOS). Recently, Atossa announced that it has opened its Phase 2 study of proprietary topical Endoxifen on mammographic breast density, or MBD, reduction. Studies by others have shown that a reduction in MBD reduces the risk of developing breast cancer and may potentially improve the accuracy of mammography in finding cancer.
The Phase 2 study is being conducted at Stockholm South General Hospital in Sweden and is being led by principal investigator Dr. Per Hall, MD, Ph.D., Head of the Department of Medical Epidemiology and Biostatistics at Karolinska Institutet.
The primary endpoint is to determine if topical Endoxifen administration results in an individual change in MBD, which will be measured after three and six months of entering the study. The secondary endpoints are safety and tolerability. Ninety participants will be randomized to one of three groups (one placebo group and two groups of different strengths of topical Endoxifen) with 30 participants per group. The objective of the study is to determine if MBD is reduced, and if so, the results will drive sample size calculations for a future Phase III study. Enrollment is anticipated to be completed by the end of 2018.
To learn more about Atossa Genetics (ATOS) and to track its ongoing progress, please visit the Vista Partners Atossa Genetics Coverage Page.
Vista Partners LLC (”Vista”) is a California Registered Investment Advisor based in San Francisco. Vista delivers timely and relevant insights via the website: www.vistapglobal.com with daily stories, weekly market updates, monthly macroeconomic newsletters, podcasts, & Vista’s proprietary equity and market research to help you stay informed and stay competitive. Vista’s mission is to invest partner capital while arming investors with a comprehensive global financial perspective across all market sectors. Vista also seeks to provide select issuers with actionable advice regarding fundamental development, corporate governance, and capital market directives.
Stay Informed! Stay Competitive!
Join us at Vista Partners! It’s FREE to receive email updates.