Roche snaps up LKS-backed weight-loss firm for US$3.1b

Swiss drugmaker Roche agreed to pay as much as US$3.1 billion (HK$24.1 billion) for US weight-loss treatment developer Carmot Therapeutics, which is backed by tycoon Li Ka-shing's private investment arm Horizons Ventures.

The deal for three experimental medications in obesity and diabetes could push Roche into competition with European rival Novo Nordisk, whose drug Wegovy has fueled the Danish pharma player's growth into the most valuable company in Europe.

Roche, which has come under pressure to improve its pipeline with new medications, agreed to pay US$2.7 billion at first for closely held Carmot and up to US$400 million in milestones.

Carmot's financial backers include Horizons Ventures, which co-led a US$15 million financing round for Carmot in 2018 with health-care venture capital fund the Column Group.

Although Carmot's drugs are still in the early stages of development, the deal could lead to a competitor to the likes of Wegovy and Eli Lilly's Zepbound, which are fueling the growth of a weight-loss market estimated to reach US$100 billion by the end of the decade.

Carmot's lead experimental medicine is a weekly injection that is ready to enter the second of three stages of clinical tests, meaning it is still a few years away from reaching patients.

But existing data "suggests a best-in-class potential to achieve and maintain weight loss with differentiated efficacy," according to Roche.

Carmot had been exploring an initial public offering, it was suggested in September.