Pharmaceutical firm Sumitomo Dainippon Pharma is set to take a stake of at least 10% in US-based pharmaceutical and health technology company builder Roivant Sciences as part of a $3bn investment agreed yesterday.
Roivant’s business model involves the formation of a series of subsidiaries it calls ‘vants’, each of which concentrate on a separate disease area. It currently has 45 preclinical and clinical-stage assets being developed across 20 vants.
The $3bn figure represents the upfront payment for a partnership between the companies that is built around the formation of a Sumitomo Dainippon-owned venture called Sumitomo Dainippon-Roivant Alliance.
The newly formed entity will acquire Roivant’s ownership of five vants including women’s health and prostate cancer drug developer Myovant, urinary disease therapy developer Urovant, Enzyvant and Altavant, which focus on rare paediatric and respiratory diseases respectively.
The agreement will give Sumitomo Dainippon the option to purchase Roivant’s interest in up to six other vants, and the drug producer will also gain access to parts of Roivant’s technology including clinical development and business optimisation tools.
Roivant was launched with $100m from Dexxon, the owner of pharmaceutical company Dexcel, and hedge fund QVT, before securing an undisclosed amount from hedge fund manager Viking Global Investors in 2015.
The company raised $1.1bn in a 2017 round led by telecommunications and internet company SoftBank that included Dexcel, and added $200m from SoftBank, Dexxon, QVT, Viking Global, NovaQuest Capital Management and RTW Investments at a $7bn valuation in November 2018.
