Roche Buys Memory To Boost Its Pipeline

NJBIZ, Dec 1, 2008

NUTLEY - Swiss drug maker Roche, which has its United States headquarters in the township, last week signed a $50 million deal to buy Memory Pharmaceuticals, its Montvale-based partner in develop- ing a drug for Alzheimer's disease. Memory makes drugs for diseases of the central nervous system, such as Alzheimer's and schizophrenia.

Roche said it would pay 61 cents a share for Memory, which lost no time shooting up 300 percent from previous levels of around 15 cents to 60 cents on Nov. 25. Nearly 30 percent of Memory's shareholders, including directors and officers, have agreed to sell their shares to Roche, the latter stated.

Memory, in partnership with Roche, already has two drugs in development. One, for Alzheimer's and schizophrenia, is in Phase II clinical trials, and the other, targeted at Alzheimer's, is in Phase I trials, according to a Roche statement.

Memory Pharmaceuticals was founded in 1998 by Eric Kandel, a Nobel Prize winner in physiology/medicine and a Columbia University professor; he sits on its scientific advisory board. It earned revenue of $11.5 million in 2007, but was saddled with accumulated losses of $35.2 million. -Shankar P.