Arrakis will head discovery and research activities for each target to a certain point. At that time, Roche will have the right to exclusively pursue further preclinical and clinical development.

For its efforts, Arrakis will receive an upfront payment of $190 million in cash and also could receive preclinical, clinical, commercial, and sales milestone payments and royalties for any resulting products. Arrakis estimates that the potential value of the collaboration's future payments could reach several billion dollars, subject to regulatory approvals and the satisfactory completion of other conditions.

Arrakis' discovery platform is designed to integrate RNA bioinformatic and structural tools, curated chemical libraries, RNA-specific assays, and RNA-guided medicinal chemistry. The company also is developing a pipeline of RNA-targeted small molecules to treat a range of serious illnesses, including cancers and other diseases.