Roche to buy US gene therapy Spark for $4.3b

ZURICH, Feb 25 (AFP): Swiss pharmaceuticals giant Roche said on Monday it reached a deal worth $4.3 billion (3.7 billion euros) to buy US group Spark Therapeutics, which specialises in the development of gene therapy drugs.

Roche said the deal was approved by the boards of both companies, offering $114.50 a share, a premium to 122 per cent to Spark's closing price on Friday.

Founded in 2013, Spark Therapeutics specialises in gene therapies, a new and growing segment of medicine, for genetic diseases such as blindness, haemophilia, and neurodegenerative diseases.

Its biggest treatment under study is SPK-8011, a haemophilia therapy, on which phase 3 clinical trials, the most advanced stage of trials, are scheduled to begin this year.

Luxturna, its treatment for a hereditary retinal disorder that can cause blindness, was the first gene therapy to be approved by the US health authorities in 2017, Roche said.

The treatment was also approved last year by the European Union.