Roche Diagnostics enters collaborative agreement for potential cancer therapy

Roche Diagnostics has entered into a collaboration agreement with Genentech and Glycart for the joint development and commercialisation of the latter’s GA101 molecule, it has announced.

The firms will be working on the humanised anti-CD20 monoclonal antibody – which is engineered to increased both direct and immune-mediated target cell death – for the potential treatment of oncology-related B-cell disorders such as non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma.

William M Burns, chief executive officer of Roche’s pharmaceutical division, said: "The exciting work in monoclonal antibody engineering carried out by our scientists at GlycArt is now moving through Roche Group companies to the next stage in developing clinically differentiated treatments."

Hal Barron, managing director, senior vice-president and chief medical officer of Genentech, said he is pleased the programme may offer a potential new treatment option for people with haematological malignancies.

In recent days, Roche announced it has invested a total of 215 million Swiss francs (108 million pounds) in a diagnostics facility in Penzberg, near Munich.

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