Over the next three years, DeCode and the Swiss drug giant will share drug-discovery and clinical-trial costs under the three-year deal. Decode also may receive milestone payments and royalties on sales of products that win regulatory approval.
The two companies have a record of collaboration in this area that goes back nearly seven years, according to Pharmacogenomics Reporter, a GenomeWeb News publication. For example, DeCode received milestone payments from Roche for discovering the vascular disease genes related to the current agreement. Terms of that 4-year, $200 million deal, penned in 1998, also included the discovery of genes for osteoporosis, pre-eclampsia, and schizophrenia. Roche at the time said it plans to use these gene targets in developing new medications.
There is also a diagnostic element to accompany the new deal: Roche and DeCode signed a 5-year deal in July 2001, valued by DeCode at $300 million, to develop DNA-based diagnostics. The Icelandic pharmacogenomics company is also working on developing a DNA-based cardiovascular disease risk panel to identify individuals at high-risk for heart attack, stroke, and peripheral arterial occlusive disease, according to BioArray News, a GenomeWeb News publication.