As Merck and Pfizer predict incoming billions from their COVID drugs, Roche culls pandemic ties with Atea

Swiss major Roche is cutting its losses and casting aside its COVID-19 drug collab with biotech Atea Pharmaceuticals.

After the recent successes seen with Pfizer and Merck, it’s easy to forget just how high the pile of failed COVID drugs is: Although its Big Pharma peers have hit key wins and are penning supply deals like there’s no tomorrow, Roche and Atea are playing out a very different story.

The pair signed a $350 million deal just over a year ago for Atea’s antiviral, AT-527, coming after the biotech put its COVID program on the map a few months prior by raising a massive $215 million funding round.