Roche Pact Targets Multiple Sclerosis

Roche has teamed with venture capital firm Versant Ventures and the drug discovery incubator Inception Sciences to launch Inception 5, a biotech firm devoted to finding multiple sclerosis drugs. Inception 5 will use a screening platform developed at the University of California, San Francisco, to find small molecules that repair damaged myelin, the insulating layer around nerves. Versant will provide equity financing; Roche will provide milestone-based funding in exchange for the right to acquire Inception 5 down the road. This is the second build-to-buy company formed by the three partners. In 2012, they created Inception 3 to develop hearing loss treatments.