SoftBank claims $5B stake in Roche amid grand plans to invest in biotech — reports
SoftBank has made a somewhat surprising choice in its bid to pour billions into biotech and healthcare.
The Japanese behemoth has quietly acquired a $5 billion stake in Roche, making it one of the Swiss pharma giant’s largest investors, Bloomberg reported. The Financial Times later confirmed the news.
The move marks a significant departure from SoftBank’s previous strategy of channeling biotech investments through its Vision Fund into early-stage startups such as Vir, Sana, XtalPi, Umoja and Exscientia. It also placed a sizable bet on Roivant back in 2017, leading a $1.1 billion round, long before Vivek Ramaswamy and his successor, Matt Gline, landed a SPAC merger at a valuation of $7 billion.
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