Roche and Oryzon Work on New Cancer-Blocking Drug

Roche Diagnostics in Switzerland and Oryzon Genomics in Spain agreed to work together in order to develop a new cancer drug that switches on genes that block the deadly disease's growth.

The Switzerland-based Roche agreed to purchase the rights to an experimental drug from Spain's Oryzon Genomics. This would be Roche's first drug in human testing in the field of epigenetics, which is the changing of genes without altering DNA. Roche will pay Oryzon $21 million for meeting near-term goals, among other fiscal incentives.

Roche is the world's largest maker of cancer drugs, raking in billions of dollars for MabThera, Herceptin, and Avastin, which are all cancer medicines. The deal between Roche and Oryzon will also explore the development of drugs that harness the body's immune system to fight cancer and blood diseases by also using epigenetics.

The drug of topic, ORY-1001, blocks the enzyme Lysine Specific Demethylase (LSD1) and has the ability to turn of genes and was found to play a role in certain types of leukemia. ORY-1001 was given orphan-drug status last August for the treatment of myeloid leukemia because the European Medicines Agency believes it has the ability to turn on genes that prevent abnormal white blood cells from progressing in bone marrow and blood.

As part of the agreement, Roche's Translational Clinical Research Center in New York will collaborate with Oryzon for the next two years, which could possibly expand Oryzon's presence in the United States. Oryzon CEO Carlos Buesa said that the company is looking for possibilities as a public listing in the United States.

Furthermore, Roche announced today that they are acquiring IQuum Inc., which is a Massachusetts-based baker of molecular-diagnostics products.

"With IQuum, we further strengthen our molecular diagnostics offerings with cutting-edge technology and products that serve the point of care segment. Patients will benefit from on-the-spot and accurate diagnoses," said Roche's COO Roland Diggelmann in this Roche news release.

You can read more about Roche's business dealings as well as Oryzon's ORY-1001 drug in both this Bloomsberg news article and this Reuters news article.