Roche Expands Obesity Pipeline With Rona's RNAi Candidate

Swiss pharma giant Roche RHHBY is expanding its obesity and metabolic disease pipeline through an exclusive worldwide licensing agreement with Rona Therapeutics for an investigational RNA interference (RNAi) candidate targeting activin receptor-like kinase 7 (ALK7). The deal reinforces Roche's focus on developing next-generation treatments for obesity, a market with growing demand for differentiated therapies. Year to date, shares of Roche have risen 4.3% compared with the industry's growth of 13%.