Genentech, a member of the Roche Group, will acquire Seragon Pharmaceuticals, a privately held biotechnology company based in San Diego, Calif. Genentech obtains rights to Seragon’s entire portfolio of investigational next-generation oral selective estrogen receptor degraders (SERDs) for the potential treatment of hormone receptor-positive breast cancer. 

“This year, breast cancer will claim the lives of nearly 40,000 women in the U.S., and up to half of these women will have a disease that is driven by the estrogen receptor,” said Richard Scheller, Ph.D., executive vice president and head of Genentech Research and Early Development. “We believe these investigational oral SERDs could one day redefine the standard of care for hormone receptor-positive breast cancer.”

Genentech will make an upfront cash payment of $725 million, plus additional contingent payments of up to $1 billion based on achievement of certain predetermined milestones. The closing of the transaction is subject to customary closing conditions, including clearance under the Hart-Scott-Rodino Antitrust Improvements Act. The transaction is expected to close in the third quarter of 2014. Seragon’s portfolio will be integrated into Genentech Research and Early Development.