Roche buys Santaris Pharma and its Locked Nucleic Acid platform

Roche announced that it has agreed to acquire Santaris Pharma, a privately held biopharmaceutical company based near Copenhagen, Denmark. Santaris Pharma has pioneered its proprietary Locked Nucleic Acid (LNA) platform that has contributed to an emerging era of RNA-targeting therapeutics. This new class of medicines has the potential to address difficult to treat diseases in a range of therapeutic areas. Roche plans to maintain Santaris Pharma’s operations in Denmark, where the existing site will be renamed Roche Innovation Center Copenhagen. Under the terms of the agreement, Roche will make an upfront cash payment of USD 250 million to Santaris Pharma shareholders and make additional contingent payments of up to $ 200 million based on the achievement of certain predetermined milestones.