Irish biotech company Inflazome today announced its acquisition by Roche for €380 million, in what is one of the largest Irish biotech deals in history.
Co-founded in 2016 by Trinity’s Prof Luke O’Neill and Prof Matt Cooper of the University of Queensland in Australia, Inflazome develops drugs to treat a raft of inflammatory diseases.
The company focuses on inhibiting the inflammasome, a component of the immune system implicated in Parkinson’s disease, cardiovascular disease, motor neuron disease and many more chronic inflammatory conditions.
In a press statement, Provost Patrick Prendergast said that the deal was “wonderful news, first and foremost for the many people across the world with diseases like Parkinson’s who stand to benefit from these discoveries”.
“It is also a boost for the Irish scientific community and for Trinity College Dublin, where the ideas originated that led to the collaboration with University of Queensland and the subsequent foundation of Inflazome”, he added.
Inflazome was founded based on intellectual property from O’Neill’s Science Foundation Ireland-funded research with Prof Matt Cooper, Dr Kate Schroeder, Dr Rebecca Coll and Dr Avril Robertson from the University of Queensland.
Prof O’Neill’s lab first discovered that a previously known molecule seemed to suppress the inflammasome they were investigating.
Further collaboration with Prof Cooper led to the foundation of Inflazome to develop and patent the therapeutic compounds based on Prof O’Neill’s original research in hopes of providing treatments for a range of inflammatory diseases that have limited treatment options.
Two of the company’s drug candidates are already in clinical trials: Inzomelid for treating neurodegenerative conditions and Somalix for other inflammatory conditions. Roche said it intends to continue developing these inhibitors for areas of “high unmet medical need” according to RTÉ News.
The acquisition gives Roche the rights to Inflazome’s portfolio of inflammasome inhibitors in exchange for the €380 million upfront payment to shareholders, with the potential for additional payments if certain milestones are met.
“We’re talking about Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, cardiovascular disease”, said Prof O’Neill on the Pat Kenny Show on Newstalk this morning. “All of these inflammatory diseases seem to involve one thing that goes wrong in your body and we have a drug that corrects that.”
Prendergast had high praise for the scientists involved, saying: “We congratulate all the researchers involved for their tireless commitment to discovery and innovation and for making a real difference in society.”
