Roche acquires biotech in the field of obesity.

This morning Roche acquired the unlisted US biotech company Carmot Therapeutics for an initial consideration of USD 2.7 billion, plus possible additional payments of USD 400 million in the event of product success. Carmot Therapeutics, based in Berkley, California, has several phase-2 products for the treatment of obese patients with and without diabetes, and was recently considering an IPO.

The Swiss multinational has thus entered the field of obesity and diabetes treatment, where it has not been active until now. This is obviously a huge market (no pun intended), but unfortunately there are already several players. Indeed, the world leader in diabetes, Novo Nordisk, already has approved products that are highly effective against obesity. Other players such as Eli Lilly, Amgen and Zealand pharmaceutics also have products close to approval.

Given that these products will have to go through a phase-3 study and a lengthy FDA review period before they are potentially approved, Roche won’t be able to market these new products until 2025. We hope that the Swiss giant will be able to capitalize on this acquisition and take market share in obesity, a market estimated to have sales of USD 11 billion by 2024.