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Roche to Buy RNAi and Gene Therapy Company Mirus Bio for $125M

Jul 22, 2008
NEW YORK (GenomeWeb News) – Roche said today that it will buy RNAi technologies company Mirus Bio Corporation for $125 million.
 
Roche plans to divest Mirus’ transfection reagents into a stand-alone business called Mirus Bio LLC, and it expects to offer employees of the Madison, Wis.-based company a transition into respective business units. The Swiss firm intends to retain an RNAi research site at the facilities in Madison.
 
Roche said that it expects to complete the transaction during the second half of 2008.
 
Mirus Bio is involved in RNAi and gene therapy, with products for siRNA therapeutics, one of which is a treatment for muscular dystrophy that is being developed through a collaboration with the French company Transgene. The company also markets DNA and siRNA transfection and labeling products.
 
Roche said that Mirus’ technology offers “an innovative way of getting RNAi therapeutics to specific disease targets,” which it said has been the “major challenge” of RNAi-based technologies.

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