Roche expands into cell therapy with $1.5B Poseida purchase

Swiss medicine giant Roche announced the acquisition of cell therapy maker firm Poseida Therapeutics on Tuesday, for a total transaction value of $1.5 billion.

“The acquisition will facilitate a range of potentially ‘first and best-in-class therapies’ across oncology, immunology, and neurology, uniquely positioning Roche in the new field of donor-derived off-the-shelf cell therapies,” Roche stated in a press release.

The transaction is expected to be completed in the first quarter of 2025. The acquisition will be done for $9 per share, and shareholders will also receive a non-tradeable contingent value right for around $4 per share, representing a total deal value of some $1.5 billion.

Poseida is a public clinical-stage biopharmaceutical firm in donor-derived CAR-T cell therapies, based in California, the U.S.

Poseida’s research and development portfolio includes preclinical and clinical-stage off-the-shelf chimeric antigen receptor T (CAR-T) therapies across several therapeutic areas, including hematological malignancies, solid tumors and autoimmune disease, as well as manufacturing capabilities and technology platforms.