(pd/res) The pharmaceutical company Roche (1) headquartered in Basle signed an agreement on the 19th July to acquire 100% of the biotech company GlycArt Biotechnology AG Zurich (2), for the sum of 235 million CHF, as the former announced. Up until then, GlycArt Biotechnology, which was founded in 2000 as an ETH spin-off, was a privately owned Swiss company. "GlycArt’s unique technology for enhancing the efficacy of antibodies will further strengthen Roche’s expertise in therapeutic antibody research and development," writes Roche. In addition, the company is also acquiring GlycArt's development pipeline, which contains three monoclonal antibodies against cancer, which are in the preclinical development stage. And Roche intends to keep the location of GlycArt in Zurich-Schlieren and integrate it fully into the research organisation of its Pharmaceutical Division. If all goes according to plan, the transaction will be completed in the third quarter of 2005.

According to Franz B. Humer, Chairman of the Board of Directors and CEO of the Roche-Group: "The takeover is a perfect strategic fit. It complements our 'Therapeutic Protein Initiative' in an ideal way, and enhances our engagement in the development of clinically differentiated proteins and antibodies in areas with medical needs that have not been covered until now, for example in oncology."

Moreover, Joël Jean-Mairet, CEO of GlycArt, is pleased to become an integral part of the Roche-Group. "We are convinced that Roche's exceptional experience in biopharmaceutical research and development, production and marketing offers our candidate products and technologies an excellent basis and will enable them to realise their full potential. We've maintained an interesting and synergetic collaboration with Roche since September 2004. We are also very pleased that we will be able to continue to contribute to the further development of Roche's endeavours in the upcoming antibody pipeline." Since its foundation GlycArt has been supported by a wide syndicate of investors comprising Novartis Venture Fund, GLSV, Gilde, DVC, ABN AMRO Capital, Quester und BioMed Invest.

GlycArt is the owner of the GlycoMAb-Technology, a method to strengthen the effect of therapeutic antibodies. This is realised by engineering carbohydrate- parts, which are present in all antibodies. GlycoMAb specifically strengthens antibody-dependent cellular cytotoxicity (ADCC), an immune effector mechanism that is decisive for the killing activity of antibodies against the target cells. This means that the GlycoMAb-Technology has the potential to produce better antibody drugs in areas of medicine like oncology–an area in which Roche leads the market.