Catalent, a global provider of advanced delivery technologies and development solutions for drugs, biologics and consumer health products, has announced a research collaboration with Roche to develop next-generation molecules coupling different therapeutic modalities using Catalent's proprietary SMARTag technology.

Roche will gain non-exclusive access to the SMARTag platform and will have an option to take commercial licenses to develop molecules directed to a defined number of targets. Use of SMARTag, Catalent's programmable protein-modification technology, combined with the highly stable hydrazino-Pictet-Spengler (HIPS) conjugation platform, will permit evaluation of alternative sites of drug conjugation so that Roche may develop molecules optimized for efficacy, safety and stability.

Roche will pay Catalent an up-front fee of $1 million and provide additional research funding during the initial phase of the collaboration. Catalent has the potential to receive up to $618 million in development and commercial milestones, plus royalties on net sales of products, if Roche pursues commercial licenses and all options are exercised.

"Roche is a pioneer and leader in biologics for oncology and beyond, and we look forward to working with the Roche team to support development of their next generation of medicines," said Mike Riley, Catalent Biologics' vice president/general manager. "Our goal is to combine our differentiated SMARTag technology with Roche's expertise to create new transformational treatments."