Roche to pay Blueprint up to $1.7 billion in cancer drug deal

By John Miller

ZURICH (Reuters) - Swiss drugmaker Roche <ROG.S> on Tuesday struck a deal worth up to $1.7 billion (£1.35 billion) with Blueprint Medicines <BPMC.O> to develop and commercialise a new treatment for people with so-called RET-altered cancers whose mutations can drive tumour growth.

Roche, which has had a pact to develop drugs with Blueprint Medicines since 2016, will pay $675 million in cash and make a $100 million equity investment to get rights to pralsetinib, in late-stage development for people with RET-altered non-small cell lung cancer as well as other cancers.

U.S.-based Blueprint could also get up to $927 million in milestones, plus royalties on sales outside the United States, Basel-based Roche said in a statement.

In May, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and European regulators accepted marketing applications for pralsetinib to treat locally advanced or metastatic RET fusion-positive non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), with the review ongoing. Earlier this month, Blueprint also submitted pralsetinib to the FDA for treating advanced RET mutant and RET fusion-positive thyroid cancers.

"In bringing pralsetinib to patients, we will leverage our global reach and expertise in oncology, as well as our capabilities in diagnostics and the use of real-world data," said James Sabry, head of Roche's pharmaceuticals partnering operation, in a statement.

In addition to Tuesday's deal announcement, Roche also was awarded the FDA's Breakthrough Therapy designation for its bispecific cancer immunotherapy mosunetuzumab in follicular lymphoma that the Swiss drugmaker hopes will speed up its development and approval.

(Reporting by John Miller; editing by Brenna Hughes Neghaiwi)