Roche had paid $1.9 billion for New York-based Flatiron Health in 2018 to speed the development of cancer drugs and support its efforts to price them based on their effectiveness.
The pharmaceutical company is now working with Citigroup to evaluate options for Flatiron, including divest the business or sell part of the company to a partner who can help run the business, the FT report said.
Although Roche has maintained Flatiron as a separate legal entity, its ownership has deterred some rival drugmakers from doing business with the startup, hurting the unit’s sales, the report said.
Roche executives originally involved in the deal have mostly left, leaving Flatiron with fewer defenders at the Swiss company, the report added.
A Roche spokesman said: “As a matter of policy, we do not comment on rumours.”
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Citigroup also declined to comment on the report, while Flatiron did not immediately respond. Flatiron, which was once backed by Alphabet, leverages data on individual cancer cases to help doctors select promising approaches for their patients. It also stores billing data, doctors’ notes and related information.
The report that Roche may be divesting itself of Flatiron comes after the drugmaker last month raised its full-year profit forecast on the back of strong demand for newer drugs such as its eye medicine Vabysmo. (Reporting by Akanksha Khushi in Bengaluru; Additional reporting by Paul Arnold in Zurich; Editing by Varun HK, Christopher Cushing and Maju Samuel)
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