Swiss healthcare group Roche and San Diego based biotech company Amira Pharmaceuticals today announced a pioneering model for collaboration consisting of a research alliance and an option for Amira to license two clinical stage compounds from Roche. Under the research collaboration, Roche will use its screening capabilities to investigate three mutually agreed targets in the field of inflammatory diseases. Amira will then utilize its expertise to optimize the lead compounds generated. Roche will have opt-in rights on two of those compounds.

Under a separate licensing option agreement, Amira may license two pre-determined clinical programs from Roche in specific indications in exchange for equity, milestones and royalties.

Amira is a startup company specialized in the field of inflammatory diseases. The firm is funded by investors that include Avalon Ventures, Prospect Ventures and Versant Ventures. The alliance with Amira complements Roche’s broad research efforts in inflammation and provides the company with access to innovative external capabilities in a strategic therapeutic area.

“In the past, we referred to a ‘win-win’ alliance between pharma and biotech partners,” said Peter Hug, Roche’s Global Head of Pharma Partnering. “Through this new model, we have created a ‘win-win-win’ deal structure where three main players, Roche, Amira and the venture community, are all benefiting from a joint effort to develop potential new medicines for patients.”

“We are very excited to collaborate with Roche. This alliance reinforces the proven pharmaceutical background of Amira’s scientists and positions Amira to develop an outstanding pipeline of novel drug candidates for a broad array of inflammation-based disorders. We look forward to a long and productive partnership,” said Peppi Prasit, Chief Scientific Officer of Amira.

Brad Bolzon, Managing Director at Versant Ventures said, “The investors are impressed that a broad, strategic pharma partnership could be established at such an early stage in the development of Amira. Together with financing from Avalon, Prospect and Versant, this deal should enable Amira to rapidly build itself into a strong R&D based company in this important therapeutic area.”

Terms of the Agreement
Research collaboration
Roche will screen its compound repository against three targets and will transfer any hits to Amira. In exchange, Roche will have opt-in rights on two of the programs. If Roche exercises its option, Amira could receive up to $287 million in total event payments, plus royalties.

Amira’s option to license Roche clinical programs
Amira will have a one year option to license two of Roche’s existing clinical stage programs, in specific indications. Should Amira exercise its option to these programs, Roche may receive a significant percentage of Amira’s stock. Additionally, if these two programs meet all development events, Roche could receive up to $20 million, in addition to royalties.

Inflammatory Research at Roche
Roche has active programs in Inflammation, Autoimmune Disease and Transplant (IAT) research. With its broad development pipeline and existing medicines in IAT (i.e., MabThera, CellCept and Actemra), Roche has the potential to become a leading provider of novel medicines for a range of diseases in this area in the future. The company’s IAT research portfolio includes research on small molecules and biologics involving targets such as B cells and inflammatory cytokine responses. Therefore, this alliance with Amira complements Roche’s existing research efforts and provides the company with added knowledge and expertise in the area of leukotriene pathways.

About Roche as a Partner
Roche is a valued partner to more than 50 companies worldwide. Over the past two years, Roche has led the pharmaceutical industry in the number of clinical compound deals signed. In 2005, Roche entered into nine partnerships to jointly develop products for optimal patient benefit and value. Partnerships continue to strengthen Roche’s positions in oncology, virology, transplantation, and primary care. Roche’s partnering culture encourages innovation through a unique pairing of collaboration and autonomy.

About Amira
Founded in 2005 and headquartered in San Diego, Amira Pharmaceuticals is a privately-held biopharmaceutical company, focused on leveraging the deep expertise of an experienced scientific team in the field of inflammatory diseases. The founding team at Amira has over 100 cumulative years of drug discovery experience, which includes the development of marketed drugs for a variety of indications. Its scientific founders include Peppi Prasit, Jilly Evans and John Hutchinson, who have successfully worked together for over a decade. Amira has raised $9 million to date from investors that include Avalon Ventures (San Diego, CA), Prospect Ventures (Palo Alto, CA) and Versant Ventures (Menlo Park, CA). For more information, visit www.amirapharm.com.

About Roche
Headquartered in Basel, Switzerland, Roche is one of the world’s leading research-focused healthcare groups in the fields of pharmaceuticals and diagnostics. As a supplier of innovative products and services for the early detection, prevention, diagnosis and treatment of disease, the Group contributes on a broad range of fronts to improving people’s health and quality of life. Roche is a world leader in diagnostics, the leading supplier of medicines for cancer and transplantation and a market leader in virology. Roche employs roughly 65,000 people in 150 countries and has R&D agreements and strategic alliances with numerous partners, including majority ownership interests in Genentech and Chugai. Additional information about the Roche Group is available on the Internet (www.roche.com).