Roche Acquires Irish Biotech Inflazome
Swiss drugmaker Roche has acquired Irish biotech Inflazome for €380 million, said to be one of the largest deals in Irish biotech history. Headquartered in Dublin, Inflazome regards itself as a leader in the development of inflammasome inhibitors.
The deal gives Roche full rights to Inflazome’s entire portfolio of clinical and preclinical small molecule NLRP3 inhibitors. These are used to treat a large number of diseases ranging from Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s to asthma, inflammatory bowel disease, chronic kidney disease, cardiovascular disease, arthritis and the liver disease nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH).
Inflazome explained that activated NLRP3 acts as a” danger sensor” in the body to release the pro-inflammatory cytokines IL-1β, IL-18 and induce uncontrolled, lytic cell death (pyroptosis), which leads to chronic inflammation.
The company’s lead molecules have successfully completed Phase 1 clinical trials, as well as several high potential earlier-stage programs. Roche intends to further develop NLRP3 inhibitors across a wide variety of indications with high unmet medical need.
Matt Cooper, Inflazome’s CEO, said that as part of Roche, Inflazome’s “pioneering molecules are well positioned to be developed quickly and effectively so they can help patients suffering from debilitating diseases.”
Inflazome was founded in 2016 by Cooper, then a medical researcher at the University of Queensland in Australia, and Luke O’Neill, a medical researcher at Trinity College Dublin.
Author: Elaine Burridge, Freelance Journalist
