Arrakis Therapeutics, a privately held company in the portfolio of HBM Healthcare Investments, today announced a strategic collaboration and license agreement with Roche (SIX: RO, ROG; OTCQX: RHHBY) for the discovery of RNA-targeted small molecule (rSM) drugs against a broad set of targets across all of Roche’s research and development areas.

Under the terms of the agreement, Arrakis will lead discovery and research activities for each target to a defined point, at which time Roche will have the right to exclusively pursue further preclinical and clinical development. Arrakis will receive an upfront payment of USD 190 million in cash and may also receive preclinical, clinical, commercial and sales milestone payments and royalties for any resulting products. The aggregate potential value of future payments to Arrakis exceeds several billion dollars, subject to regulatory approvals and other conditions being met.

HBM Healthcare Investments invested USD 7 million in Arrakis in 2019 and owns 4.8 percent of the company. The collaboration with Roche validates the company’s discovery platform and secures its financing for the years to come. In accordance with our valuation principles, however, this transaction has no immediate impact on the valuation of our investment.

Contact
For further information, please contact Dr Andreas Wicki on +41 41 710 75 77, or at andreas.wicki@hbmhealthcare.com.