Roche has agreed to acquire US biotech firm Ignyta for $1.7bn, following Bayer’s buying into a class of experimental cancer drugs that home in on a specific mutation across many types of tumours. Ignyta investors will get $27 a share in cash, the companies said in a statement on Friday — 74% higher than Thursday’s closing price. Both companies’ boards agreed to the deal. Roche’s purchase comes about five weeks after Bayer signed a $1.55bn licensing deal for Loxo Oncology’s larotrectinib, an experimental medicine similar to Ignyta’s entrectinib. Roche has said it will focus on small deals like Ignyta to build its portfolio. The Swiss company, the world’s biggest maker of cancer drugs, is facing a critical transition as its three top-selling medicines lose patent protection. Ignyta’s entrectinib is being tested in patient trials that, if successful, could be the basis for applications with regulators to sell the drug. Roche said it aimed to complete the purchase in the first half of 2...
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