Pacific Biosciences will develop and manufacture certain products intended for clinical use, which it will sell exclusively to Roche. Roche obtained worldwide rights to exclusively distribute these products in the field of human in vitro diagnostics. Pacific Biosciences will continue to market its current and future products for all fields outside of human in vitro diagnostics, including research, plant, animal, and applied markets.
Commenting on the agreement, Dan Zabrowski, Head of the Sequencing Unit at Roche said, “We see great potential in Pacific Biosciences’ sequencing technology for the development of future clinical sequencing applications. Sequencing will be a key technology in addressing the strong and growing demand for genetic and genomic solutions in the clinic. We are looking forward to this partnership to accelerate and support the transition of DNA sequencing into routine diagnostics through our joint development efforts.”
“We are delighted to have Roche as our in vitro diagnostics partner,” stated Mike Hunkapiller, President and Chief Executive Officer of Pacific Biosciences. “As a world leader in in vitro diagnostics, Roche brings valuable expertise in designing products for clinical use and obtaining regulatory approvals to sell clinical products in the U.S. and around the world. We believe the combination of our SMRT Sequencing technology with Roche’s market position and expertise in diagnostics will allow accelerated commercial success for both companies.”
Under the agreement, Pacific Biosciences will receive an upfront payment of $35 million and expects to receive an additional $40 million in funding tied to development milestones. Once the development programs are completed, Pacific Biosciences expects to also receive income from the manufacture and supply of instrument, software, and certain consumable products that Roche will market and distribute for clinical use in combination with its assay specific reagents.
Perella Weinberg Partners acted as the exclusive financial advisor to Pacific Biosciences for this transaction.