Scarcity value sees Dicerna rewarded richly by Roche

Hopes are high that RNA-based therapies will make real progress towards delivering a functional cure for hepatitis B – but unencumbered clinical assets are thin on the ground. Presumably this is why Dicerna managed to drive such a rich deal for its phase I asset, DCR-HBVS; shares in the company traded 6% higher on the news. The US biotech said today that Roche had bought worldwide rights to the project for an initial $200m, the biggest up-front fee seen in this space, though the collaboration also involves the discovery of other assets. Roche has a number of hepatitis B projects in development, though the only one in the same ballpark as the Dicerna agent is an oligonucleotide coded RG6004. DCR-HBVS is an RNAi asset is said to differ from other RNAi approaches in that it targets a unique section of the viral genome. Whether that matters is not clear – proof of concept data, due before year end, are apparently not yet available. Given the substantial sums involved in this deal Roche must be supremely confident in this approach, though the presence of other parties at the table likely drove up the price.