Roche Seeks Middle Ground in Iceland
Executive Summary
What many companies wish for these days is access to a gene pool from a population of patients afflicted with particular diseases--and not the ultra-rare familial diseases academic researchers have been tracking for years. Roche and deCode Genetics find a gene pool they like in Iceland.
Not so long ago, a single human disease-related gene was a treasure. Companies trumpeted when they found, or obtained rights to "the" gene for a common condition such as obesity or asthma. Then, researchers started realizing that these single genes did not necessarily represent a quick, sure path to a drug candidate. Firms began lamenting their lack of access to large quantities of genes. They wanted to see more, have more choices, and they've gotten their wish. These days, it's easy enough for companies to peruse mass quantities of human genes through public and private databases. But this doesn't seem to be helping drugmakers as fast or reliably as they'd like.
Having tried both the focused and mass-scale approaches to gene-based drug discovery, companies now believe the solution will be found on middle ground. What many companies wish for these days is access to a gene pool from a population of patients afflicted with particular diseases—and not the ultra-rare familial diseases academic researchers have been tracking for years. Drug developers now want to know how genes relate not only to other genes in databases, but to the clinical manifestations of common disorders such as cardiovascular disease or diabetes. But where to find, how to access focused gene pools?
Genset SA of France is affiliating with major medical centers to get DNA from homogeneous patient populations. In June 1997, the firm signed a deal to work in Israel with the Technion Israel Institute of Technology , that country's largest applied research center, gathering DNA samples from people with cancer, cardiovascular, central nervous-system (CNS) and bone disease [See Deal]. No financial terms were disclosed for either deal.
F. Hoffman-La Roche Ltd.plans to study genes from an entire country of homogenous people—Iceland—and has agreed to pay over $200 million for the privilege. In early February, Roche announced a research collaboration with deCode genetics Inc. of Reykjavik, Iceland, a young genomics company that has been building a database containing genotypic, phenotypic and health-history information from Iceland's highly homogeneous population. The database also includes genealogical information extending back over one thousand years to the country's founding in 874. Iceland's population of 270,000 displays a rare degree of homogeneity, because the country has been isolated until recently.
The five year deal, worth over $200 million, entails a modest equity investment in deCode (less than 10% of the company), research funding and milestone payments [See Deal]. The collaborators will initially focus on six disease areas including schizophrenia and adult-onset diabetes; all told, the deal covers a dozen diseases: four in each of three areas: cardiovascular, psychiatric/neurologic, metabolic. Roche gets rights to develop small-molecule drugs, drugs derived from gene products, and diagnostics. DeCode retains rights to gene and antisense therapies.
This deal is much larger than the exclusive one Human Genome Sciences Inc. did with SmithKline Beecham for $125 million [See Deal], points out deCode's CEO Kari Stefansson: "It's a tremendous validation for a company that is only a year-and-a-half old. While it is a broad-based deal we will try to make very good for Roche, it is by no means an exclusive deal." DeCode expects to sign partners in other disease areas such as psoriasis, inflammatory bowel disease, multiple sclerosis and familial essential tremor. The company also hopes to sell its anonymous population database as "a tool for understanding and modeling disease management, and for making economic projections of health care costs, based on genetic predisposition." Stefansson says.
Roche has promised as part of the deal to give the people of Iceland, at no charge, all medications developed as a result of the collaboration. Stefansson says he does not yet know whether clinical trials will be done in Iceland in conjunction with the research, emphasizing that is not part of the current deal: "I'm hell bent on making sure we don't give the perception we're using the Icelandic nation as a group of guinea pigs. We certainly are not. We're only describing what we see in our unique population." Clearly Roche thinks the view is worth a closer look.