Good Therapeutics Announces Acquisition of Conditionally Active PD-1-Regulated IL-2 Program by Roche

Good Therapeutics recently announced it has entered into a definitive merger agreement to be acquired by Roche. With this acquisition, Roche will gain rights to Good Therapeutics’ innovative, conditionally active, PD-1-regulated IL-2 program and an exclusive right to the platform technology for the development of PD-1-regulated IL-2 receptor agonist therapeutics.

Under the terms of the merger agreement, Roche will make an upfront cash payment of $250 million for the shares on a fully diluted basis and additional payments based on the achievement of predetermined development, regulatory, and commercial milestones. The transaction is conditioned upon clearance under the Hart-Scott-Rodino Antitrust Improvements Act and is expected to close in the third quarter of 2022.

Following the close of the Roche acquisition, the Good Therapeutics team plans to apply the technology for the design of conditionally active therapeutics to other targets in immuno-oncology and beyond in a new company, Bonum Therapeutics.

“Good Therapeutics was founded to create a new class of conditionally active therapeutics that will be more effective and avoid the problem of systemic immune activation seen with previous versions of such drugs. We have focused on PD-1-IL-2 as a biology that has great potential for benefiting patients,” said John Mulligan, PhD, Founder and CEO of Good Therapeutics. “Roche is a leader in immuno-oncology and has pioneered the field of engineered PD-1-targeted IL-2 therapeutics. Given their expertise in this field and broad capabilities in oncology, we believe they are a perfect choice for taking this important program forward.”

“We are excited to bring Good’s innovative PD-1-regulated IL-2 program into our existing oncology pipeline, which nicely complements our efforts on next-generation PD-1-targeted IL-2 therapeutics and our broader oncology strategy of providing cancer patients with innovative solutions and improving health outcomes,” said James Sabry, MD, PhD, Global Head of Pharma Partnering at Roche. “With our proven track record in cancer immunotherapy, we are well-positioned to leverage our deep discovery, development, clinical, and manufacturing capabilities and worldwide reach to potentially bring innovative products from this program to patients as fast as possible.”

Good Therapeutics is a biopharmaceutical company focused on the generation of a new class of drugs that offer potent activity only where it is needed. The company’s regulated, context-dependent molecules combine an antibody sensor directed against a specific marker and a therapeutic component active only when the sensor has bound its target. The therapeutic component can be regulated by any molecule that an antibody can bind, including native proteins, modified proteins, and metabolites. Good Therapeutics’ technology is applicable to a wide range of areas including cancer, autoimmune diseases, metabolic disease, and pain management. A privately held company founded in 2016 and based in Seattle, Washington, Good Therapeutics, Inc. is backed by a group of leading venture investors including Codon Capital, RiverVest Venture Partners, 3×5 Partners, Roche Venture Fund, and Digitalis Ventures.