Roche acquires Trophos S A

Roche announced that it has agreed to acquire Trophos, a privately held biotechnology company based in Marseille, France. Trophos’s proprietary screening platform generated olesoxime (TRO 19622), which is being developed for spinal muscular atrophy (SMA) – a rare and debilitating genetic neuromuscular disease that is most commonly diagnosed in children. Results from a pivotal phase II clinical trial with olesoxime in SMA showed a beneficial effect on the maintenance of neuromuscular function in individuals with Type II and non-ambulatory Type III SMA, as well as a reduction in medical complications associated with the disease. These data were first presented in April 2014 at the annual meeting of the American Academy of Neurology (AAN).