InterMune Sells Danoprevir Rights to Roche for $175 Million
-- Conference Call and Webcast Today at 4:30 p.m. EDT --
BRISBANE, Calif., Oct 06, 2010 /PRNewswire via COMTEX/ --
As of today we can officially lay to rest ITMN-191 (only in name) and refer to this drug as RG7227 or by it's generic name danoprevir. Roche is the savviest of drug companies and I have a hard time believing they paid $175 million dollars just to break free of their contractual obligation with ITMN, so they can use another PI with first generation nuke RG7128. That $175 million could go towards licencing PSI-7977 and starting from scratch with a DAA consisting of a second generation nuke with QD dosing. My feeling now is Roche is completely committed to INFORM (RG7227/RG7128) and you will see them moving aggressively forward with lower doses of 7227 to avoid toxicity. Nobody has better insight into the capabilities of this drug in combination with RG7128. Roche and Pharmasset have a very good chance of being the first companies to market with a DAA for HCV.
InterMune, Inc. (Nasdaq: ITMN) today announced that it has sold worldwide development and commercialization rights to danoprevir (also known as RG7227 or ITMN-191) to Hoffman-La Roche Inc. and F. Hoffman-La Roche Ltd. for $175 million in cash. In connection with this transaction, the collaboration agreement that InterMune and Roche entered into in October 2006 has been terminated. In addition, the companies are actively exploring ways to continue their ongoing work together on other HCV research programs. InterMune noted that as a result of this transaction, the company will make no further investment in danoprevir and that, including net proceeds from the transaction, it currently expects to have a cash balance of approximately $290 million at the end of 2010.
Dan Welch, Chairman, Chief Executive Officer and President of InterMune said, "After conducting a careful review of our strategy and financial position, we have decided to divest our rights to danoprevir to Roche. This transaction provides a very substantial non-dilutive cash infusion that allows us to continue to independently and aggressively pursue the registration and commercialization of pirfenidone in the US and EU, and eliminates our obligation to make significant ongoing investments related to the further development and commercialization of danoprevir. We are now in a very strong financial position that provides us with the resources and flexibility to maximize the value of pirfenidone, our largest and nearest-term value creation opportunity."
