Roivant Sciences is a healthcare company focused on applying technology to drug development. Roivant builds subsidiary biotech and healthcare technology companies.

History

Vivek Ramaswamy founded Roivant Sciences in 2014. Focused on aligning incentives and improving capital efficiency, Ramaswamy's initial strategy was to in-license drug candidates and create subsidiaries focused on distinct therapeutic areas. 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 disease An autoimmune disease is a condition arising from an abnormal immune response to a functioning body part. At least 80 types of autoimmune diseases have been identified, with some evidence suggesting that there may be more than 100 types. Nearly a ...

s, to privately held Dermavant Sciences, a commercial-stage company focused on medical

dermatology Dermatology is the branch of medicine dealing with the skin.''Random House Webster's Unabridged Dictionary.'' Random House, Inc. 2001. Page 537. . It is a speciality with both medical and surgical aspects. A dermatologist is a specialist medical ...

. Roivant also develops healthcare technologies through investments in Datavant, which helps healthcare institutions safely share data, and Lokavant, which integrates

clinical trial Clinical trials are prospective biomedical or behavioral research studies on human participants designed to answer specific questions about biomedical or behavioral interventions, including new treatments (such as novel vaccines, drugs, dietar ...

data to identify and mitigate risks in pharmaceutical development. As of 2019, Roivant had over forty investigational drugs in development in fourteen therapeutic areas across its family of companies. As of 2017, Roivant was valued at $7 billion. In 2017, it was reported that Roivant raised $1.1 billion in equity led by SoftBank Vision Fund. At the end of 2019, Roivant formed a $3 billion partnership with

Sumitomo Dainippon Pharma is a pharmaceutical company based in Japan. Its headquarters are in Chuo-ku, Osaka. The original Dainippon Pharmaceuticals (Dainippon Seiyaku) was established in 1885 by Nagayo Sensai, a graduate of Tekijuku – the first private medical school ...

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. The deal included the option for Sumitomo to acquire up to six additional subsidiaries. In April 2020, Roivant dosed the first patient in a clinical study evaluating gimsilumab in

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by a virus, the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The first known case was COVID-19 pandemic in Hubei, identified in Wuhan, China, in December ...

patients for the prevention and treatment of acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS). 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. In January 2021, Ramaswamy stepped down as CEO. Matt Gline, previously the company's chief financial officer, became CEO. In February 2021, Roivant Sciences acquired Silicon Therapeutics, a small-molecule drug designer and computational physics platform, for $450 million in Roivant equity. In October 2021, Roivant Sciences merged with

special-purpose acquisition company A special purpose acquisition company (SPAC; ), also known as a "blank check company", is a shell corporation listed on a stock exchange with the purpose of acquiring a private company, thus making it public without going through the traditional i ...

Montes Archimedes Acquisition Corp. to become listed on the

Nasdaq The Nasdaq Stock Market () (National Association of Securities Dealers Automated Quotations Stock Market) is an American stock exchange based in New York City. It is the most active stock trading venue in the US by volume, and ranked second ...

. Roivant Social Ventures (RSV) is a 501 (c)(3) charitable organization that invests in health technologies and new therapeutics that lead to systemic improvements to health equity. Launched in 2020 by leaders from Roivant Sciences, RSV partners with innovative companies, institutes and organizations to promote systemic, sustained improvements to the way health care is accessed and delivered.

Subsidiaries and former subsidiaries

As of April 2020, the company's subsidiaries include: *Dermavant, focused on developing therapeutics in medical dermatology, with lead candidate

tapinarof Tapinarof, also known as benvitimod and sold under the brand name Vtama, is a medication used for the treatment of plaque psoriasis. The medication is applied to the skin. Besides its use in medicine, tapinarof is a naturally occurring compound ...

in development for the treatment of

psoriasis Psoriasis is a long-lasting, noncontagious autoimmune disease characterized by raised areas of abnormal skin. These areas are red, pink, or purple, dry, itchy, and scaly. Psoriasis varies in severity from small, localized patches to complete ...

and

atopic dermatitis Atopic dermatitis (AD), also known as atopic eczema, is a long-term type of inflammation of the skin (dermatitis). It results in puritis, itchy, red, swollen, and cracked skin. Clear fluid may come from the affected areas, which often thickens o ...

. *Genevant, created to work on RNA-based therapeutics. *Immunovant, launched in July 2018 to develop therapies for

s, with lead candidate IMVT-1401 being developed for the treatment of

myasthenia gravis Myasthenia gravis (MG) is a long-term neuromuscular junction disease that leads to varying degrees of skeletal muscle weakness. The most commonly affected muscles are those of the eyes, face, and swallowing. It can result in double vision, dro ...

, Graves' ophthalmopathy and

warm antibody autoimmune hemolytic anemia Warm antibody autoimmune hemolytic anemia (WAIHA) is the most common form of autoimmune haemolytic anemia. About half of the cases are of unknown cause, with the other half attributable to a predisposing condition or medications being taken. Contra ...

. *Lokavant, which is focused on improving clinical trial monitoring. *Sio Gene Therapies, a

gene therapy Gene therapy is a medical field which focuses on the genetic modification of cells to produce a therapeutic effect or the treatment of disease by repairing or reconstructing defective genetic material. The first attempt at modifying human DN ...

company focused on developing treatments for

neurodegenerative diseases A neurodegenerative disease is caused by the progressive loss of structure or function of neurons, in the process known as neurodegeneration. Such neuronal damage may ultimately involve cell death. Neurodegenerative diseases include amyotrophic ...

. In June 2018, the company licensed worldwide rights to AXO-Lenti-PD, an investigational gene therapy for

Parkinson's disease Parkinson's disease (PD), or simply Parkinson's, is a long-term degenerative disorder of the central nervous system that mainly affects the motor system. The symptoms usually emerge slowly, and as the disease worsens, non-motor symptoms becom ...

, from Oxford BioMedica. Axovant is also developing gene therapies for

GM1 gangliosidoses The GM1 gangliosidoses, usually shortened to GM1, are gangliosidoses caused by mutation in the GLB1 gene resulting in a deficiency of beta-galactosidase. The deficiency causes abnormal storage of acidic lipid materials in cells of the central and ...

and GM2 gangliosidoses, including

Tay–Sachs disease Tay–Sachs disease is a genetic disorder that results in the destruction of nerve cells in the brain and spinal cord. The most common form is infantile Tay–Sachs disease, which becomes apparent around three to six months of age, with the baby ...

and

Sandhoff disease Sandhoff disease is a lysosomal genetic, lipid storage disorder caused by the inherited deficiency to create functional beta-hexosaminidases A and B. These catabolic enzymes are needed to degrade the neuronal membrane components, ganglioside GM2, ...

. *VantAI, a computational drug discovery platform. *Roivant Social Ventures, a 501(c)(3) social impact organization focused on improving healthcare access and outcomes for underserved patient populations The following subsidiaries were previously a part of Roivant, but were included as part of a strategic transaction with

which closed in December 2019: *Altavant Sciences, which is developing a treatment for pulmonary arterial hypertension. *Enzyvant Therapeutics, which is focused on developing therapies for rare enzyme deficiencies. *Myovant Sciences, founded in partnership with Takeda Pharmaceutical Company to develop medicines for women's health and

prostate cancer Prostate cancer is cancer of the prostate. Prostate cancer is the second most common cancerous tumor worldwide and is the fifth leading cause of cancer-related mortality among men. The prostate is a gland in the male reproductive system that sur ...

. *Spirovant, which focused on developing gene therapies for

cystic fibrosis Cystic fibrosis (CF) is a rare genetic disorder that affects mostly the lungs, but also the pancreas, liver, kidneys, and intestine. Long-term issues include difficulty breathing and coughing up mucus as a result of frequent lung infections. O ...

. *Urovant, which is developing lead candidate

vibegron Vibegron, sold under the brand name Gemtesa, is a medication for the treatment of overactive bladder. Vibegron (other names: RVT-901; MK4618; KRP114V; URO-901) is a selective beta-3 adrenergic receptor agonist. The most common side effects i ...

, licensed from Merck & Co. Roivant is a major shareholder of Datavant, which was co-founded with

Travis May Travis May (Born ) is an American technology company founder. He is the co-founder and president of Datavant and previously co-founded and was the CEO of LiveRamp. Early life May was born in North Carolina and grew up in Cary. He attended Ca ...

to break down silos between healthcare datasets and connect the world's health data. In October 2020, Datavant announced it raised funds from Roivant Sciences alongside Transformation Capital,

Johnson & Johnson Johnson & Johnson (J&J) is an American multinational corporation founded in 1886 that develops medical devices, pharmaceuticals, and consumer packaged goods. Its common stock is a component of the Dow Jones Industrial Average and the company i ...

, and

Cigna Cigna is an American multinational managed healthcare and insurance company based in Bloomfield, Connecticut. Its insurance subsidiaries are major providers of medical, dental, disability, life and accident insurance and related products and se ...

. In June 2018, Roivant laid off 67 employees and reassigned 130 to subsidiaries. In December 2019, Roivant transferred five of its subsidiaries for — Myovant, Urovant, Enzyvant, Altavant, and Spirovant, in addition to a greater than 10% share in itself — to Sumitomo Dainippon Pharma. 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

. In April 2020, Roivant started the administration of gimsilumab to

patients in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

Funding

References

{{Reflist Companies listed on the Nasdaq Pharmaceutical companies established in 2014 Life sciences industry Multinational companies Special-purpose acquisition companies