Pharmaceutical firm Roche agreed to acquire cancer research technology provider Flatiron Health, paying $1.9bn for the remainder of the company’s shares, giving GV, the corporate venturing unit of internet conglomerate Alphabet, its fifth latest life sciences exit since November. At the time of the acquisition, Roche already owned a 12.6% stake in Flatiron. The price for the remaining shares implied a valuation of approximately $2.15bn.
Founded in 2012, Flatiron develops an oncology research software platform that stores data from electronic health records. It works with over 265 community cancer clinics and it offers access to more than 2 million active patient records to its users.
GV had committed capital in a $8m round raised by Flatiron in 2013, in which it co-invested along with clinical services provider LabCorp, among other investors.
This exit is part of a streak of successful exits for GV portfolio companies since November last year. In November, Spero Therapeutics, a US-based Gram-negative infection treatment developer, also backed by pharmaceuticals GlaxoSmithKline, Merck & Co and Lundbeck, raised $77m in its initial public offering (IPO). Also in November, monoclonal antibody immunotherapies developer closed a $46m IPO.
Later on, neurodegenerative disease drug developer Denali Therapeutics secured $250m when it floated in December. Immuno-oncology therapy developer Armo Biosciences, which also counted pharmaceutical company Celgene as an investor, completed a $128m IPO in January this year. Earlier GV exits in the sector include genome editing technology provider Editas Medicine, which went public in early 2016. The bubble chart below, generated by GCV Analytics, shows all Alphabet exits tracked in 2016 and 2017.
