Roche Expands Obesity Portfolio Through $2.7 Billion Carmot Acquisition

On December 4, 2023, Roche revealed that it entered into definitive merger agreements with Carmot Therapeutics. According to the company’s press release, it will acquire Carmot and its gamut of clinical-stage obesity drugs for $2.7 billion. The company may also pay $400 million in milestone payments.

Assuming the acquisition is successful, Roche will enter the growing and competitive obesity drug landscape. The company highlighted three obesity drugs in clinical stages that made Carmot an appealing investment.

The first, CT-388, is Carmot’s lead asset, ready for phase 2 clinical trials. The compound is a dual glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1)/gastric inhibitory polypeptide (GIP) receptor agonist delivered weekly subcutaneously. The drug is being explored for obese patients with and without type 2 diabetes.

“We are encouraged by the clinical data for the lead asset CT-388, which demonstrated substantial weight loss in phase 1b. These data suggest the potential for a differentiated profile to treat obesity and its associated diseases,” says Levi Garraway, Roche’s Chief Medical Officer and Head of Global Product Development, in the press release. “The broad Carmot portfolio offers different routes of administration and opportunities to develop combination therapies that treat obesity and potentially other indications.”

In addition to CT-388, CT-996, a daily oral GLP-1 receptor agonist, is in phase 1 clinical trials to treat obesity in patients with and without type 2 diabetes. Finally, CT-868, a daily subcutaneous injection, is in phase 2 clinical trials. The dual GLP-1/GIP receptor agonist is indicated for obese and overweight patients with type 1 diabetes.

“Obesity is a heterogeneous disease, which contributes to many other diseases that together comprise a significant health burden worldwide. By combining Carmot’s portfolio with programs in our Pharmaceuticals pipeline and our Diagnostics expertise and portfolio of products across cardiovascular and metabolic diseases, we are aiming to improve the standard of care and positively impact patients’ lives,” said Thomas Schinecker, CEO of Roche Group, in the release.

The company predicts the $2.7 billion deal will close in the first quarter of 2024, allowing Roche access to the compounds and Carmot’s Chemotype Evolution discovery platform in metabolism.