Pharma BD Deal Intelligence
Roche entered a multi-year strategic collaboration and license agreement with Shape Therapeutics (ShapeTX) in August 2021 for next-generation AAV gene therapies and RNA editing therapeutics targeting Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's disease and rare CNS diseases, pairing ShapeTX's RNAfix ADAR-recruiting RNA-editing platform and AAVid tissue-targeted capsid library with Roche's neuroscience and rare-disease development expertise. Total potential value exceeds $3B across upfront, research funding and development/regulatory/commercial milestones plus tiered royalties. On November 30, 2023 the partners expanded the alliance, with Roche adding a new target and initiating a program to develop a potential one-time therapy for an undisclosed disease affecting millions of people worldwide; the expansion carried a new initial milestone payment plus additional development, regulatory and sales milestones and tiered royalties. ShapeTX subsequently disclosed further AI-platform advances (DeepREAD guide-RNA design model and an enhanced U7 expression system) in October 2024.