Roche Holding and Spark Therapeutics announced on Tuesday another extension of the Swiss drugmaker’s $4.3 billion takeover offer for the U.S. gene therapy specialist as regulatory reviews continue.
The offer for Spark shares now runs to Oct. 1, Roche said.
Around 24.1% of Spark’s outstanding shares had been tendered as of the end of August.
“The offer was extended to provide additional time for the U.S. Federal Trade Commission (the ‘FTC’) and the UK Competition and Markets Authority (the ‘CMA’) to complete their previously disclosed reviews of Roche’s pending acquisition of Spark. The parties remain committed to the transaction and are working cooperatively and expeditiously with the FTC and the CMA,” a statement said.
By Michael Shields
Source: Reuters
The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office issued a patent to MedTrace for their method of diagnosing the human heart via 15O-water PET. The patented method is the foundation of the company’s software aQuant, currently under development. Hendrik “Hans” Harms, PhD and Senior Scientist at MedTrace, and Jens Soerensen, Professor and Clinical Advisor to MedTrace, are the originators of the method.
Teresa Graham, currently head of global product strategy for Roche pharma, will become the division’s new CEO next month, Roche said Thursday. Simultaneously, Roche is elevating Levi Garraway, chief medical officer, to the executive committee.
Fierce Pharma has obtained internal documents and video of a town hall meeting conducted this week describing what J&J called a “comprehensive review” of its portfolio. Moving forward, J&J plans to operate its vaccines and infectious diseases outfits as one group, the executives explained.
