Genentech Acquires Jecure Therapeutics

Jecure Therapeutics, a biotechnology company with drug discovery programs targeting serious inflammatory diseases, announced a definitive agreement by which it will be acquired by Genentech, the maker of Lucentis (ranibizumab). 

Terms of the deal were not disclosed.

With this acquisition, Genentech, a member of the Roche Group, will obtain full rights to Jecure’s entire preclinical portfolio of NLRP3 inhibitors.

“Genentech has an extensive history of translating pioneering science into transformative medicines,” Jeffrey A. Stafford, PhD, president and CEO of Jecure, said in a company news release. “The acquisition of Jecure provides a unique opportunity to bring novel NLRP3 inhibitors to patients.”

“We’ve had a long-standing interest in targeting inflammatory pathways that may play a role in a number of serious diseases,” James Sabry, MD, PhD, global head of Pharma Partnering, Roche, said in the news release. “We’re excited to combine Jecure’s portfolio with our discovery and development capabilities, as well as our expertise in NLRP3 biology, to potentially help people with inflammatory diseases.”

Jecure began operations in 2015 with a seed financing from founding investor Versant Ventures. The company raised $20 million in a Series A round from Versant in 2017 to continue to develop and advance its portfolio of NLRP3 inhibitors.

About NLRP3 and its Role in Inflammatory Disease

Nucleotide-binding oligomerization (NOD)-like Receptor Family Pyrin Domain Containing Protein 3 (NLRP3) is an immunomodulatory protein involved in the activation of certain inflammasomes, protein complexes responsible for the activation of cellular inflammatory responses. Studies have linked cellular stress signals to the activation of NLRP3 inflammasomes in a wide range of inflammatory and autoimmune disorders, such as non-alcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH), liver fibrosis, gout, inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) and cardiovascular diseases.