Caris Life Sciences (NASDAQ: CAI) entered into a multi‑year collaboration and license agreement with Genentech, a Roche Group subsidiary, that provides an upfront payment of $25 million and the opportunity to earn up to $1.1 billion in milestone payments and tiered royalties on net sales of any therapies that arise from the partnership.
The collaboration focuses on identifying and validating novel oncology targets in solid‑tumor tissue. Caris will leverage its extensive repository of nearly 500,000 solid‑tumor samples and its multimodal clinico‑genomic database to conduct integrated bioinformatics and wet‑lab validation studies, while Genentech will contribute its deep expertise in therapeutic development to advance promising targets toward clinical development.
Caris’ recent financial performance underscores the strategic value of the deal. In the third quarter of 2025, the company generated $216.8 million in revenue, a 113.4% year‑over‑year increase driven by a 121% surge in U.S. commercial revenue and a 52% rise in U.S. government revenue. Gross margin expanded to 68.0%, up 2,432 basis points from 65.6% in the prior year, reflecting higher mix of high‑margin services and improved operational leverage. Net income reached $24.3 million, a turnaround from a $67.7 million loss in the same quarter a year earlier.
"At Caris, we are committed to making precision medicine a reality for all patients," said Milan Radovich, Ph.D., Senior Vice President and Chief Scientific Officer. "This collaboration with Genentech is specifically designed to identify and validate novel targets in solid tumors, combining our data platform with Genentech’s therapeutic expertise to enable the development of first‑in‑class medicines for cancer patients."
Boris L. Zaïtra, Head of Roche Corporate Business Development, added, "Roche and Genentech are driven by a profound vision – a future where cancer can be cured. Collaborations with partners such as Caris allow us to pursue future innovation for patients with unmet needs."
The partnership signals strong external validation of Caris’ data and discovery platform and provides a non‑dilutive funding layer that can accelerate the company’s transition into high‑margin drug discovery. Analysts view the deal as a strategic pivot that expands Caris’ revenue mix beyond diagnostics and positions it to capture a share of the oncology pipeline.
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