Rona inks deal worth up to $1.16B to license obesity drug
Rona Therapeutics, a world-leading RNAi therapeutics company dedicated to addressing cardiometabolic, obesity and degenerative diseases with a next-generation RNA technology platform, announced it has entered into an exclusive worldwide licensing agreement worth up to $1.16 billion with Roche for its investigational obesity drug candidate.
Rona is based in Shanghai, China, but maintains a U.S. headquarters in Santa Barbara. Founded in 2021, Rona has progressed multiple programs into global development leveraging its proprietary platform in extrahepatic delivery, multivalency, and novel oligo chemistry.
Rona has raised $200 million since being founded five years ago, beginning with a $35 million Series A round led by investors including Lilly Asia Ventures and CMB International Capital in 2022. The company raised another $25 million in a pre-Series B round led by Geuniom Group, with participation from Lilly Asia Ventures, LongRiver Investments, and BioTrack Capital.
Roche is a major Swiss multinational healthcare company that operates globally across two main divisions: pharmaceuticals and diagnostics.
The exclusive agreement is for Rona’s investigational RNAi candidate targeting activin receptor-like kinase 7 — ALK7 — a target for obesity and metabolic diseases.
According to Rona, ALK7, encoded by the ACVR1C gene, is predominantly expressed in adipose tissue and is a genetically validated target for obesity and metabolic diseases.
Inhibition of ALK7 by directly targeting adipocytes has the potential to selectively reduce visceral and other ectopic fat depots while preserving lean mass, offering a differentiated approach that may be complementary to incretin-based therapies, according to the company.
Human genetic studies have associated reduced ALK7 activity with favorable fat distribution and metabolic phenotypes. Therapeutic silencing of ALK7 therefore has the potential to promote reduction of visceral adipose tissue while preserving lean mass and improving metabolic health, according to the press release.
“Obesity is a complex chronic disease with significant unmet medical needs for new mechanisms that can improve the quality and durability of weight loss,” said Stella Shi, CEO and founder of Rona Therapeutics.
“ALK7 is a compelling obesity and metabolic disease target with the potential to directly address adipose tissue biology. Rona Therapeutics is committed to discovering and developing novel RNAi therapies to benefit patients with obesity and metabolic diseases globally. This collaboration combines Rona’s pioneering extrahepatic RNAi R&D platform with Roche’s strong expertise and commitment in global development and commercialization of medicines for the treatment of obesity and metabolic diseases to bring this important therapeutic candidate to patients.”
According to details of the deal, Rona will receive upfront and near-term milestone payments of up to $100M and is eligible to receive up to $1.06 billion in potential development, regulatory and commercial milestone payments, as well as tiered royalties on global net sales.
For Roche, the company has been attempting to enter the obesity drug market, which has been dominated by Eli Lilly’s Zepbound and Novo Nordisk’s Wegovy and Saxenda.
In September, Roche reported positive mid-stage data for its obesity and diabetes candidate, enicepatide, which helped patients lose weight and lower blood sugar levels.
“Obesity represents a significant health challenge that requires differentiated treatment options for patients,” said Boris L. Zaïtra, head of corporate business development at Roche. “We are excited to partner with Rona Therapeutics, complementing our robust CVRM pipeline and reinforcing our commitment to delivering next-generation metabolic therapies.”
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