Roche secures rights to Alector's Parkinson's therapy for up to $1.27 billions, Alector shares surge

Reuters, October 5 - US biotechnology company Alector announced on Monday that Swiss pharmaceutical company Roche ROPC.S will pay up to $1.27 billion to acquire the rights to its experimental Parkinson's disease therapy ALEC.O, boosting the company's share price by 72% in pre-market trading.

Roche's subsidiary Genentech will pay Alector an upfront payment of $100 million, and if the therapy meets research, regulatory, and sales targets, an additional payment of up to $1.17 billion will be made. Alector will also receive royalty payments.

Details are as follows:

• The agreement grants Genentech exclusive global rights to develop, manufacture, and sell AL050, an experimental therapy aimed at addressing enzyme deficiency associated with Parkinson's disease.

• Genentech will be responsible for the development, regulatory filings, manufacturing, and commercialization of the therapy.

• AL050 is an enzyme replacement therapy designed to address GCase enzyme deficiency — this deficiency can lead to the accumulation of certain fats and increase the risk of Parkinson's disease.

• This transaction is the latest in a series of licensing agreements Roche has reached to expand its drug development pipeline.

• In June this year, Roche and Nurix Therapeutics NRIX.O entered into a licensing and collaboration agreement (link) involving a blood cancer drug, with a transaction value of up to $2.3 billion.

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