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Roivant Sciences

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Roivant Sciences Ltd.
Company typePublic
IndustryPharmaceuticals
FoundedApril 7, 2014; 10 years ago (2014-04-07)
FounderVivek Ramaswamy
HeadquartersLondon, United Kingdom
Key people
Matt Gline (CEO)
RevenueIncrease US$125 million (2024)
Increase US$4.24 billion (2024)[a]
Increase US$4.35 billion (2024)[a]
Total assetsIncrease US$7.22 billion (2024)[a]
Total equityIncrease US$6.45 billion (2024)[a]
OwnerVivek Ramaswamy (10.5%)
Number of employees
908 (2024)
Websiteroivant.com
Footnotes / references
Financials as of 31 March 2024.[1][2]

Roivant Sciences Ltd. is a healthcare company focused on applying technology to drug development and building subsidiary biotech and healthcare technology companies. It was founded in 2014 by Vivek Ramaswamy.[3]

History

[edit]

Vivek Ramaswamy founded Roivant in 2014.[4] Ramaswamy's initial strategy was to in-license drug candidates and create subsidiaries focused on distinct therapeutic areas.[5] This strategy expanded to include developing earlier stage drug candidates and platform technologies. Roivant is a parent company to over a dozen subsidiaries ranging from Immunovant, a majority-owned public company focused on autoimmune diseases, to privately held Dermavant Sciences, a commercial-stage company[6] focused on medical dermatology.[7]

Roivant also develops healthcare technologies through its business unit Roivant Health. Roivant built and launched Datavant, which allows healthcare institutions to share data, and was merged with Coix[8] to become a $7 billion company. Roivant's technology portfolio also includes Lokavant, which integrates clinical trial data to identify and mitigate risks in pharmaceutical development.[7][9] In 2017, Roivant partnered with the private equity arm of Chinese state-owned CITIC Group to form Sinovant.[10][11][12] As of 2019, Roivant had over forty investigational drugs in development in fourteen therapeutic areas across its family of companies.[13] 

At the end of 2019, Roivant formed a $3 billion partnership with Sumitomo Dainippon Pharma and transferred its ownership stake in five of its subsidiaries: Myovant Sciences, Urovant Sciences, Enzyvant Therapeutics, Altavant Sciences, and Spirovant Sciences, which now sit under Sumitovant Biopharma.[14] The deal included the option for Sumitomo to acquire up to six additional subsidiaries.[15]

In April 2020, Roivant dosed the first patient in a clinical study evaluating gimsilumab in COVID-19 patients for the prevention and treatment of acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS).[16] Additionally, in April, Datavant announced that its technology is being used to create a pro bono COVID-19 research database to help public health and policy researchers combat the pandemic.[17]

In January 2021, Ramaswamy stepped down as CEO. Matt Gline, previously the company's chief financial officer, became CEO.[18] In February 2021, Roivant acquired Silicon Therapeutics, a small-molecule drug designer and computational physics platform, for $450 million in Roivant equity.[19][20] In October 2021, Roivant merged with special-purpose acquisition company Montes Archimedes Acquisition Corp. to become listed on the Nasdaq.[21]

In June 2022, Roivant and Pfizer unveiled Priovant Therapeutics.[22] Priovant was established in September 2021 through a transaction between Roivant and Pfizer,[23] in which Pfizer licensed oral and topical brepocitinib's global development rights and US and Japan commercial rights to Priovant. Pfizer holds a 25% equity ownership interest in Priovant. Brepocitinib is a potential first-in-class dual, selective inhibitor of TYK2 and JAK1; in all five placebo-controlled studies completed to date, oral brepocitinib generated statistically significant and clinically meaningful results. Later that year in December 2022, Roivant and Pfizer announced [24] their third partnership to create a new Vant [25] focused on developing TL1A drug candidates for inflammatory and fibrotic diseases. As of February 2023, Roivant's reported market cap was over $6 billion.[26]

Axovant, owned by Roivant's Sio Gene Therapies, which failed testing in the end, has been accused of being a pump-and-dump scheme.[27][28][29][30]

In December 2023, Roche completed the acquisition of Telavant from Roivant for a purchase price of $7.1 billion upfront and a near-term milestone payment of $150 million.[31][32]

Subsidiaries and former subsidiaries

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As of April 2020, the company's subsidiaries include:

The following subsidiaries were previously a part of Roivant, but were included as part of a strategic transaction with Sumitomo Dainippon Pharma which closed in December 2019:[35]

Roivant is a major shareholder of Datavant, which was co-founded with Travis May to link disparate healthcare datasets.[43] In October 2020, Datavant announced it raised funds from Roivant alongside Transformation Capital, Johnson & Johnson, and Cigna.[44]

In June 2018, Roivant laid off 67 employees and reassigned 130 to subsidiaries.[45]

In March 2020, Roivant announced it is developing gimsilumab, an anti-granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor (anti-GM-CSF) monoclonal antibody to prevent and treat acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) in patients with COVID-19.[46] In April 2020, Roivant started the administration of gimsilumab to COVID-19 patients in the United States.[47]

Funding

[edit]

The company received millions of dollars from hedge funds such as QVT in the early days of its existence.[48] Later, it was able to raise US$200 million, with help from NovaQuest Capital Management.[49]

PE/Growth round funding
Year Amount
2019
 
 $1 billion
2018
 
 $200 million
2017
 
 $1.1 billion
2015
 
 $500 million
2014
 
 $93 million
Sources:[50][4][51]

Notes

[edit]
  1. ^ a b c d Gain on sale of Telavant contributed $5.35bn.[1]

References

[edit]
  1. ^ a b "FY 2024 Annual Report (Form 10-K)". U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. 30 May 2024. Retrieved 16 June 2024.
  2. ^ "2023 Proxy Statement". Archived from the original on 2023-09-02. Retrieved 2023-09-02.
  3. ^ Hyatt, John (April 26, 2023). "How Rich Is Vivek Ramaswamy, The Longshot GOP Presidential Candidate Who Helped Take Down Don Lemon?". Forbes. Archived from the original on July 10, 2023. Retrieved July 10, 2023.
  4. ^ a b "Roivant Company Overview". Roivant Company Website.
  5. ^ Spalding, Rebecca (13 November 2018). "SoftBank-Backed Biotech Roivant Climbs to $7 Billion Valuation". Bloomberg. Archived from the original on 28 March 2019. Retrieved 20 February 2019.
  6. ^ "Dermavant Sciences". Archived from the original on 2022-05-24. Retrieved 2023-02-22.
  7. ^ a b Loizos, Connie (14 November 2018). "Biotech holding company Roivant raised $200M in funding at a whopping $7B valuation". TechCrunch. Archived from the original on 25 September 2020. Retrieved 1 May 2020.
  8. ^ Landi, Heather (June 9, 2021). "How Datavant's $7B deal with Ciox Health impacts the health data market". Fierece Healthcare. Archived from the original on 2023-03-31.
  9. ^ "Roivant Sciences launches Lokavant for clinical trial monitoring". Clinical Trials Arena. 14 January 2020. Archived from the original on 20 October 2020. Retrieved 1 May 2020.
  10. ^ Aronoff, Kate (2023-02-22). "GOP Presidential Candidate Vivek Ramaswamy, Who Used to Do Business With China, Wants to Ban Business With China". The New Republic. ISSN 0028-6583. Archived from the original on 2023-09-26. Retrieved 2023-09-27.
  11. ^ Keown, Alex (July 17, 2018). "Roivant Launches New China-Based Startup Sinovant Sciences". BioSpace. Archived from the original on 2023-09-26. Retrieved 2023-09-27.
  12. ^ Carroll, John (July 17, 2018). "Vivek Ramaswamy strikes again, this time launching a Beijing-based biotech player with a pipeline". Endpoints News. Archived from the original on 2023-09-26. Retrieved 2023-09-27.
  13. ^ Arnum, Patricia Van (16 October 2019). "Emerging Pharma: Roivant Sciences on the Rise". DCATVCI. Archived from the original on 2020-06-05. Retrieved 2020-06-05.
  14. ^ a b "On Heels of the Sale of Five Vants, Roivant Launches New Company Lokavant". BioSpace. Archived from the original on 2020-04-27. Retrieved 2020-03-18.
  15. ^ "Roivant offloads biotech stakes in $3B alliance with Japanese pharma". BioPharma Dive. Archived from the original on 2020-10-28. Retrieved 2020-06-11.
  16. ^ Tirumalaraju, Divya (16 April 2020). "Roivant starts gimsilumab dosing in Covid-19 trial". Clinical Trials Arena. Retrieved 14 January 2024.
  17. ^ Haggin, Patience (2020-04-08). "Companies Seek to Pool Medical Records to Create Coronavirus Patient Registry". Wall Street Journal. ISSN 0099-9660. Archived from the original on 2020-06-26. Retrieved 2020-07-01.
  18. ^ "Roivant's Ramaswamy Steps Down as CEO, Becomes Executive Chairman". BioSpace. Archived from the original on 2021-01-26. Retrieved 2021-01-28.
  19. ^ "Roivant to absorb Silicon Therapeutics with $450M-plus deal". FierceBiotech. Archived from the original on 2021-04-19. Retrieved 2021-03-25.
  20. ^ "Roivant Dives Deeper into AI with $450 Million Buy of Silicon Therapeutics". BioSpace. Archived from the original on 2021-02-27. Retrieved 2021-03-25.
  21. ^ "Roivant Sciences and Montes Archimedes Acquisition Corp. (MAAC) to Combine and Create Publicly Traded Leader in Biopharma and Health Technology" (Press release). PR Newswire. May 3, 2021. Archived from the original on October 3, 2021. Retrieved October 3, 2021.
  22. ^ Taylor, Nick Paul (Jun 28, 2022). "Roivant is Pfizer's TYK2 partner". Fierce Biotech. Archived from the original on 2023-03-31. Retrieved 2023-03-31.
  23. ^ "Roivant and Pfizer Unveil Priovant Therapeutics and Ongoing Registrational Studies for Oral Brepocitinib in Dermatomyositis and Lupus". Roivant. June 28, 2022. Archived from the original on 2023-03-31. Retrieved 2023-03-31.
  24. ^ "Roivant and Pfizer Form New Vant Company Focused on Developing TL1A Drug Candidate for Inflammatory and Fibrotic Diseases". Roivant. December 1, 2022. Archived from the original on 2023-03-31. Retrieved 2023-03-31.
  25. ^ Satija, Bhanvi; Mandowara, Khushi; Satija, Bhanvi (December 1, 2022). "Roivant, Pfizer team up on inflammatory disease drug". Reuters. Archived from the original on 2023-03-31. Retrieved 2023-03-31.
  26. ^ Out of Ignorance (6 March 2023). "Roivant Sciences: Fiercely Economic Actor with Multiple Catalysts". Seeking Alpha. Archived from the original on 2023-03-31. Retrieved 2023-03-31.
  27. ^ Sonnenfeld, Jeffrey (August 31, 2023). "Smoke and mirrors: I've been debating Vivek Ramaswamy for 2 years. Here's how I got past his diversionary tactics". Fortune. Archived from the original on 2023-09-05. Retrieved 2023-09-05.
  28. ^ Sonnenfeld, Jeffrey; Tian, Steven (June 14, 2023). "Vivek Ramaswamy is threatening GOP heavyweights in the polls–but his business record doesn't live up to the hype". Fortune. Archived from the original on 2023-09-05. Retrieved 2023-09-05.
  29. ^ Piper, Jessica (14 May 2023). "How Vivek Ramaswamy made a fortune before pivoting to politics". Politico. Archived from the original on 2023-06-29. Retrieved 2023-09-05.
  30. ^ Weisman, Jonathan; Robbins, Rebecca; Farrell, Maureen (27 June 2023). "How Vivek Ramaswamy Made the Fortune Fueling His Presidential Run". The New York Times. Archived from the original on 2023-06-29. Retrieved 2023-09-05.
  31. ^ "Roche Completes Acquisition of Telavant from Roivant, Including Rights to Novel TL1A Directed Antibody (RVT-3101) for the Treatment of Inflammatory Bowel Disease". Yahoo Finance. 2023-12-14. Retrieved 2024-04-05.
  32. ^ "Roche buys U.S. rights to Roivant bowel disease drug in $7.1 billion deal". Reuters. Retrieved 2024-04-05.
  33. ^ Carroll, John. "Vivek Ramaswamy is diving into RNA, launching a new biotech with Arbutus and a team of vets". Endpoints News. Archived from the original on 13 November 2018. Retrieved 31 October 2018.
  34. ^ Keown, Alex. "Roivant Taps Genentech Veteran". BioSpace. Archived from the original on 13 November 2018. Retrieved 31 October 2018.
  35. ^ "Sumitomo Dainippon and Roivant Close Deal to Form Sumitovant Biopharma". BioSpace. Archived from the original on 2020-03-25. Retrieved 2020-03-25.
  36. ^ Henderson, Jennifer. "Changes and headcount reduction at Roivant, but hiring expected in Durham". Bizjournals. Archived from the original on 27 September 2023. Retrieved 7 January 2019.
  37. ^ "Dermavant Sciences Announces First Patient Dosed in PSOARING, its Pivotal Phase 3 Clinical Program for Tapinarof for the Topical Treatment of Plaque Psoriasis". GlobeNewswire News Room (Press release). Dermavant Sciences Inc. 2019-06-05. Archived from the original on 2019-06-12. Retrieved 2020-03-18.
  38. ^ "Organon to buy Roivant's dermatology unit for up to $1.2 billion". Reuters. 18 September 2024.
  39. ^ Adams, Ben. "Roivant and Plexcera launch rare disease-focused spinout". Fierce Biotech. Archived from the original on 2016-10-11. Retrieved 2016-10-07.
  40. ^ Leuty, Ron (27 October 2016). "Biggest biotech IPO this year is a small Peninsula company". San Francisco Business Times. Archived from the original on 12 November 2016. Retrieved 14 November 2016.
  41. ^ Pagliarulo, Ned. "Roivant, Sumitomo alliance to target cystic fibrosis gene therapy". BioPharma Dive. Archived from the original on 12 November 2019. Retrieved 12 November 2019.
  42. ^ Adams, Ben (June 7, 2017). "Roivant launches Urovant with phase 3 Merck med". FierceBiotech. Archived from the original on August 7, 2017. Retrieved August 7, 2017.
  43. ^ Carroll, John. "Tech maven Travis May takes the helm of Roivant's data mining startup". Endpoints News. Archived from the original on 8 November 2018. Retrieved 18 November 2018.
  44. ^ ""Datavant Raises $40 Million in Series B Financing to Expand Open Health Data Ecosystem"" (Press release). Archived from the original on 2020-10-15. Retrieved 2020-10-13.
  45. ^ Taylor, Nick Paul. "Roivant cuts staff, reassigns others in a major reshuffle, as insider decries 'bloodbath'". Archived from the original on 2018-07-05. Retrieved 2018-07-04.
  46. ^ "Roivant pivots towards ARDS in COVID-19". BioCentury. Archived from the original on 2020-08-15. Retrieved 2020-04-02.
  47. ^ "Roivant Begins Giving Experimental COVID-19 Drug to First U.S. Patients". The New York Times. Reuters. 2020-04-15. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2020-04-23.
  48. ^ Weisman, Jonathan; Robbins, Rebecca; Farrell, Maureen (2023-06-27). "How Vivek Ramaswamy Made the Fortune Fueling His Presidential Run". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Archived from the original on 2023-06-29. Retrieved 2023-09-13. In 2014, Mr. Ramaswamy founded Roivant Sciences — incorporated in the tax haven of Bermuda and backed by nearly $100 million in funding from investors including QVT, a hedge fund that employed Mr. Ramaswamy after college.
  49. ^ Loizos, Connie (2018-11-14). "Biotech holding company Roivant Sciences raised $200M in funding at a whopping $7B valuation". TechCrunch. Archived from the original on 2023-04-18. Retrieved 2023-09-13.
  50. ^ "Roivant, which creates companies around abandoned drugs, just raised $1.1 billion from SoftBank". TechCrunch. Archived from the original on 2018-11-06. Retrieved 2018-11-06.
  51. ^ Spalding, Rebecca (13 November 2018). "SoftBank-Backed Biotech Roivant Climbs to $7 Billion Valuation". Bloomberg. Archived from the original on 6 December 2018. Retrieved 5 December 2018.
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