Caris signs Genentech deal worth up to $1.1 billion for rare cancer targets

Dec 16 (Reuters) - Caris Life Sciences CAI.O said on Tuesday it has signed a multi-year collaboration with Genentech, part of Swiss drugmaker Roche ROG.S, to discover new drug targets for hard-to-treat cancers.

The agreement includes $25 million in upfront and near-term payments and could bring Caris up to $1.1 billion in milestone payments tied to research, development and sales, the companies said.

Caris will also receive royalties on any therapies developed under the partnership.

The deal combines Caris' precision medicine platform with Genentech's drug development capabilities to tackle solid tumors, cancers that form in organs and tissues rather than in blood.

Under the license agreement, Caris' research arm, Caris Discovery, will seek to identify and validate novel oncology targets with the aim of developing first-in-class medicines.

Caris says it has a collection of nearly 500,000 tumor samples and matched molecular and clinical data that it uses to identify and validate promising targets.

The company uses artificial intelligence and advanced molecular testing to analyze tumors, aiming to guide treatment decisions and accelerate drug discovery.