Which company acquired Genentech in 2009?

Roche acquired Genentech in 2009. The Swiss healthcare company bought the publicly held shares it did not already own, completing the transaction on March 26, 2009, and making Genentech a wholly owned Roche subsidiary.

The deal was valued at approximately $46.8 billion for Genentech’s remaining equity. Roche had already purchased a 60% stake in Genentech in 1990, so the 2009 transaction was a full takeover rather than an entirely new relationship. The companies had long collaborated on biotechnology medicines, including important cancer treatments.

Genentech, founded in 1976 in South San Francisco, helped pioneer modern biotechnology and recombinant-DNA medicines. A common mix-up is confusing this deal with Roche’s later acquisitions of companies such as Ventana Medical Systems or Foundation Medicine. Merck, Pfizer, and Novartis were major pharmaceutical competitors, but none acquired Genentech in 2009.