Redwood Bioscience, a subsidiary of Catalent, a US-based global provider of advanced delivery technologies and development solutions for drugs, biologics and consumer health products, has entered a research collaboration with Switzerland’s Roche to develop next-generation molecules coupling different therapeutic modalities with the help of Catalent's proprietary protein-modification technology SMARTag.

Catalent said the use of use of SMARTag, combined with the highly stable hydrazino-Pictet-Spengler conjugation platform, will permit evaluation of alternative sites of drug conjugation to facilitate development of molecules optimized for efficacy, safety and stability.

As part of the deal, Roche will pay Catalent an upfront fee of $1 million and provide additional research funding during the initial phase of the collaboration. In return, the Swiss drugmaker will gain non-exclusive access to the platform and will have an option to take commercial licenses to develop molecules directed to a defined number of targets.

The US company also could receive up to $618 million in development and commercial milestones, plus royalties on net sales of products, if Roche pursues commercial licenses and all options are exercised.