Roche licensed an experimental RNA interference obesity medicine targeting ALK7 from China-based Rona Therapeutics, paying $100 million upfront for full ownership and up to just over $1 billion in milestones plus royalties. The drug joins five other experimental obesity medicines in Roche's pipeline. It is Roche's fifth deal with a China-based drugmaker since the end of August and 10th since the beginning of 2025.
Roche has licensed an RNAi-based ALK7 obesity drug candidate from China's Rona Therapeutics, paying up to $100 million upfront and in near-term milestones plus as much as $1.06 billion in future milestones. ALK7 inhibition may reduce fat deposits while preserving muscle, an option GLP-1 drugs lack. The deal follows Roche returning its anti-myostatin therapy emugrobart to subsidiary Chugai after a mid-stage analysis found it unlikely to produce meaningful weight loss.
Roche is partnering with Chinese startup Defand Therapeutics to discover new medicines rather than merely license existing drug candidates, a departure from how pharma companies have approached China in recent years. Defand will discover multiple molecular glue degraders for cancer and immune-driven diseases, drugs designed to attach to problematic proteins and destroy them. Interest in the class grew after Revolution Medicines' molecular glue Rasonque nearly doubled survival in pancreatic cancer patients. Financial terms and next milestones were not disclosed.
Roche has signed a discovery collaboration with Chinese startup Defand Therapeutics to develop molecular glue medicines for cancer and immune-driven diseases. Financial terms were not disclosed, but a source said the deal could be worth close to $1 billion in upfront fees and milestone payments tied to preclinical, clinical and regulatory goals. Defand will discover and develop multiple drugs under the partnership.
Why it matters: A big pharma pays a Chinese biotech for discovery-stage molecular glue work rather than late-stage assets.
Genmab and AbbVie's bispecific antibody Epkinly, approved in May 2023 for diffuse large B cell lymphoma after at least two prior systemic lines, cut risk of disease progression or death by 51% in a Phase 3 trial when combined with R-CHOP in the frontline setting. In deals, Shionogi bought IntraBio for $2 billion, Novartis committed up to $7.8 billion to Abogen Biosciences, Eli Lilly added up to $870 million with Gate Bioscience, and Sanofi and Regeneron renewed their collaboration with a $1 billion upfront. Sarepta shared Elevidys data in older Duchenne patients at the World Muscle Society meeting, with Jefferies citing upcoming readouts and an FDA decision on Amondys 45 and Vyondys 53.
The Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine went to Peter Hegemann, Georg Nagel and Karl Deisseroth for optogenetics, a light-based method for studying neurons. Alector licensed its preclinical Parkinson's therapy AL050 to Roche's Genentech for $100 million in guaranteed cash and up to $1.17 billion in milestones plus royalties. Separately, the FDA approved Lilly's Jaypirca as a first-line treatment for CLL or SLL patients without a 17p deletion.
Why it matters: Nobel recognition for optogenetics and a sizeable Roche-Alector brain drug deal matter to neuroscience-focused readers.
Genentech is paying $100 million upfront for exclusive development and commercialization rights to Alector's preclinical AL050, a blood-brain barrier-crossing glucocerebrosidase enzyme replacement therapy for neurodegenerative diseases including Parkinson's and Alzheimer's, with up to $1.17 billion in milestones plus tiered royalties. Genentech will handle development, regulatory, manufacturing and commercialization, while Alector retains its Alector Brain Carrier platform. The deal extends Alector's cash runway into 2029 and funds its anti-Aβ antibody AL137 and siRNA programs.
Roche has struck a licensing deal worth up to $2 billion with Atavistik Bio to discover allosteric small molecules for cardiovascular, renal and metabolic diseases. Roche pays $70 million up front, with up to $1.9 billion in milestones; the partners will use Atavistik's AMPS platform, with Atavistik handling discovery and Roche taking over preclinical work and beyond. The deal extends Roche's CVRM push, which includes the zilebesiran partnership with Alnylam, the $3.5 billion purchase of 89bio and the $2.7 billion Carmot takeover.
Why it matters: Roche pays $70 million up front in a $2 billion deal to enter allosteric cardiometabolic drug discovery.
Roche's Genentech is paying DualityBio $45 million upfront for rights to antibody-drug conjugates built on the Chinese biotech's Dupac platform, with the deal worth more than $1 billion in potential milestones. DualityBio will generate and develop ADCs that deliver Dupac payloads, designed to retain efficacy in tumors that progress on topoisomerase-based ADCs such as Enhertu and Trodelvy, to Genentech-picked targets, with Genentech taking sole responsibility for development after phase 1a. BioNTech, GSK and BeiGene struck earlier deals for DualityBio ADCs in 2023 and 2024.
Why it matters: A $1 billion licensing deal targeting patients who progress on approved ADCs addresses a growing unmet clinical need.
Roche, through its Genentech unit, is paying Hanmi Pharmaceutical $190 million up front for rights to HM17321, a Ucn2 analog for obesity that has begun a Phase I trial in healthy volunteers and patients with obesity. Milestones could raise the deal's value to $2.3 billion, and Hanmi is eligible for royalties outside South Korea, where it retains the program's rights. The asset would complement at least four other clinical programs in Roche's obesity pipeline.
Why it matters: A large pharma licensing a first-in-class obesity candidate with a $2.3 billion potential deal value.
Roche will invest $750 million to double the size of its Genentech unit's manufacturing campus in Hillsboro, Oregon, adding a fill-finish plant for drug-delivery devices such as prefilled syringes and auto-injectors. The 75-acre site has produced oncology, immunology and neurology treatments for 20 years. Roche plans to have the new plant operational in 2031 and to add 250 manufacturing jobs, part of a $50 billion U.S. investment pledge announced last April.