Roche to acquire liver drug developer 89bio for up to $3.5 billion

By Ludwig Burger

FRANKFURT, Sept 18 (Reuters) - Roche ROG.S has agreed to buy U.S. biotech firm 89bio ETNB.O for up to $3.5 billion, joining a race to offer new liver disease treatments that complement an intense push in the area of weight-loss drugs.

The deal would help Roche grow in a field related to the booming weight-loss market, where the company has recently made major inroads.

In a statement on Thursday, Roche said the deal was worth about $2.4 billion, or up to $3.5 billion when including a non-tradeable contingent value right.

The target company's leading drug pegozafermin, part of a class known as FGF21 analogues, is in late stages of development to treat fatty liver, formally known as metabolic dysfunction-associated steatohepatitis, including advanced stages.

Roche said it would tender to buy all 89bio common stock for $14.50 a share in cash and a contingent value right to receive certain milestone payments of up to $6.00 a share.

Shares of the San Francisco-based 89bio rose about 86% to $15.02 in premarket trading.

Roche said the acquisition underscored its dedication to advancing therapies in cardiovascular, renal, and metabolic diseases, especially for those overweight or battling obesity and related challenges such as fatty liver, also known as MASH.

"It's a very nice complement in terms of being able to treat another very common comorbid condition with obesity," Teresa Graham, the head of Roche's pharmaceutical division, told Reuters.

INTENSE DEAL ACTIVITY

This year, the company acquired rights to an obesity therapy developed by Denmark's Zealand Pharma ZELA.CO in a deal worth up to $5.3 billion, and in late 2023, it struck a deal to buy weight-loss drug developer Carmot for $2.7 billion upfront.

Other FGF21 analogues have attracted intense research and deal activity. In May, GSK GSK.L agreed to buy a liver disease drug for up to $2 billion from U.S. biotechnology firm Boston Pharmaceuticals.

For its part, Akero Therapeutics AKRO.O said early this year its drug candidate helped reverse some liver damage in a mid-stage trial, prompting its shares to more than double.

The Roche-89bio deal underscores the escalating strategic value of differentiated MASH assets, H.C. Wainwright analysts said in a note.

When asked how 89bio's compound compares to rival drug candidates, Roche's Graham said, "We believe that this has the potential to have best-in-disease efficacy, as well as an attractive convenience profile."

Roche would consider testing pegozafermin in combination with weight-loss drug candidates, in addition to its mono-therapy trial programme, she added.

Drugmakers Novo Nordisk NOVOb.CO and Eli Lilly LLY.N, who lead the booming market for weight-loss treatments with their GLP-1 treatments, are testing those drugs as well for a wider role against the liver disease.