Roche considering divesting $1.9 billion cancer data startup, FT reports

(Reuters) - Swiss pharmaceutical company Roche is considering divesting cancer data specialist Flatiron Health, the Financial Times reported on Wednesday, citing people familiar with the matter.

Roche had paid $1.9 billion for New-York based Flatiron Health in 2018 to speed its development of cancer medicines and support its efforts to price them based on how well they work.

The pharmaceutical company is now working with Citigroup to assess options for Flatiron, including divesting the business or selling part of the company to a partner that could help run the business, the FT report said.

Although Roche has kept Flatiron as a separate legal entity, its ownership has deterred some rival drugmakers from doing business with the start-up which has hurt the unit's sales, according to the report.

Roche executives who originally played a part in the deal have largely departed, leaving Flatiron with fewer advocates at the Swiss company, the report added.

A spokesperson from Roche said: "As a matter of policy, we don't comment on rumours."

Citigroup also declined to comment on the report, while Flatiron did not immediately respond.

Flatiron, once backed by Alphabet, taps into data on individual cancer cases to help doctors select promising approaches for their patients. It also stores billing data, doctors' notes and related information.

The report on Roche mulling divesting Flatiron comes after the drugmaker last month raised its full-year earnings forecast driven by strong demand for newer drugs such as its eye medicine Vabysmo.

(Reporting by Akanksha Khushi in Bengaluru; Additional reporting by Paul Arnold in Zurich; Editing by Varun H K, Christopher Cushing and Maju Samuel)