Roche Acquires Poseida Therapeutics in $1.5 Billion Deal to Advance Allogeneic Cell Therapies

Poseida Therapeutics, Inc., a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company, has entered into a merger agreement to be acquired by Roche Holdings, Inc. in a deal valued at approximately $1.5 billion. The acquisition, announced on November 26, 2024, includes a cash payment of $9.00 per share at closing, along with a non-tradeable Contingent Value Right (CVR) that could provide up to an additional $4.00 per share in cash upon the achievement of specific milestones.

The acquisition is significant as it expands Roche’s capabilities in allogeneic cell therapy, particularly in CAR-T programs. Poseida has been pioneering a proprietary non-viral technology platform that enables the design, development, and manufacture of allogeneic T stem cell memory (T-SCM)-rich CAR-T therapies. These therapies are considered promising due to their long-lived, multi-potent, and self-replicating nature, which could improve safety and efficacy profiles compared to other approaches.

Poseida’s pipeline includes several investigational allogeneic CAR-T cell therapies for hematologic cancers, autoimmune diseases, and solid tumors, as well as in vivo genetic medicines. The lead program, P-BCMA-ALLO1, is an allogeneic CAR-T therapy targeting B-cell maturation antigen (BCMA) and has received Regenerative Medicine Advanced Therapy and FDA Orphan Drug designations for relapsed/refractory multiple myeloma.

The acquisition builds on the existing strategic collaboration between Poseida and Roche, which has been focused on hematologic malignancies. Roche’s global capabilities in late-stage development and commercialization are expected to help bring these therapies to a broader patient population worldwide.

Poseida and its employees will join the Roche Group as part of Roche’s Pharmaceuticals Division, further aligning their efforts to deliver the next generation of off-the-shelf CAR-T cell therapies with increased potency and favorable safety profiles.