2015 starts in a rush for the Biotech industry. Swiss Pharma-giant Roche just announced paying $1B to acquire 56% percent of leading molecular information and genomic analysis Biotech company Foundation Medicine.
Foundation Medicine is a leading Biotech company in the field of molecular information and genomic analysis. It uses next-gen sequencing technology and solid bioinformatic analysis to find out genetic anomalies in your cancer biopsy. Physicians are then able to know patient’s tumor profile and find the most targeted drug, on the market or in development. In shorter terms, Foundation is contributing to make personalized medicine a reality.
Roche is acquiring Foundation Medicine for its commercial potential but also to accelerate Foundation Medicine’s new product development initiatives, optimize treatments for oncology patients, and better design and understand the results of clinical trials based on molecular information. Indeed, Foundation has a strategic role by knowing which cancer each patients has. It advices the physician on which drug to administer (a Roche one for example) or which drug in clinical trials could benefit the patients (again Roche has a great oncology pipeline).
Foundation was another one of the great Biotech companies I visited while doing LaBiotech Tour Boston. The company really impressed me. It started in year 2010 and in July 2014, it had already 220 employees (now 275) and was listed on NASDAQ. Here is the 3 minutes video where Jeffrey Ross, medical director, will make you visit Foundation Medicine from the inside:
Again a huge deal after Moderna’s $450M record-breaking private raising and Nestlé’s investment in Seres Health leading microbiome platform. 2014 was already a record year for Biotech and 2015 could be even bigger.