Roche to acquire Poseida Therapeutics

Clinical-stage US CAR-T therapies developer Poseida Therapeutics (Nasdaq: PSTX) saw its shares skyrocket 227% to $9.36 pre-market today, on the news of a proposed takeover by Swiss pharma giant Roche (ROG: SIX).

Based in San Diego, California, Poseida’s R&D portfolio includes pre-clinical and clinical-stage off-the-shelf (also referred to as allogeneic) CAR-T therapies across several therapeutic areas including hematological malignancies, solid tumors, and autoimmune disease, as well as manufacturing capabilities and technology platforms.

The acquisition builds on the existing partnership between Roche and Poseida following the collaboration and license agreement established in 2022, which provided an upfront payment of $110 million and the potential for up to $6 billion in aggregate value, and focused on developing off-the-shelf CAR-T cell therapies to address medical needs of patients with haematological malignancies.