Roche to acquire Austrian next-generation antibody firm Dutalys

Swiss pharma giant Roche (ROG: SIX) has agreed to acquire Dutalys, a privately held biotechnology company based in Vienna, Austria, in a deal that could cost it as much as $489 million. Unusually for a buying company, Roche’s shares gained nearly 3.5% to 288.70 Swiss francs on the news yesterday, although it dropped back this morning.

Under the terms of the accord, Roche will make an upfront cash payment of $133.75 million to shareholders and make additional contingent payments of up to $355 million based on the achievement of certain predetermined milestones.

Dutalys specializes in the discovery and development of fully human, bi-specific antibodies based on their proprietary DutaMab technology. The bi-specific antibodies developed with this platform are designed to provide novel, best-in-class molecules for several therapeutic areas. This deal further highlights Roche’s leadership in the development of therapeutic antibodies, an area in which it already boasts several multi-billion-dollar-a-year sellers, including Avastin (bevacizumab) and Herceptin (trastuzumab) for cancer.