Category: Joint ventures/collaborations

  • Roche Buys $1 Billion Stake in Cancer Genetics Company

    12 January 2015. Pharmaceutical company Roche is acquiring a majority stake in Foundation Medicine, a company conducting personal genomic analyses for cancer patients. The investment, licensing, and collaboration deal is expected to bring Foundation Medicine, in Cambridge, Massachusetts more than $1 billion. Foundation Medicine — founded by scientists at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Harvard Medical School,…

  • Biogen Idec, Columbia to Partner on Genetics Research

    9 January 2015. Biotechnology company Biogen Idec and Columbia University in New York are collaborating on research into genetic causes of disease that aims to uncover targets for new treatments and help in the early stages of producing those treatments. The partnership is valued at $30 million, but timetable, intellectual property, and further financial details…

  • Biotech, Device Maker Partner on Retinal Disease Therapy

    7 January 2015. GenSight Biologics, a Paris-based biotechnology company, and Pixium Vision, a developer of vision restoration systems also in Paris, are collaborating with a French vision and hearing foundation to design a therapy for people with retinitis pigmentosa, a genetic disorder causing people to lose their vision over time. The project is funded by…

  • Novartis Licensing Biotechs’ Gene-Editing Technologies

    7 January 2015. Pharmaceutical maker Novartis is licensing technologies from two biotechnology companies that enable the editing of human genomes to cure disease. Financial details of the agreements with Caribou Biosciences Inc. in Berkeley, California and Intellia Therapeutics in Cambridge, Massachusetts were not disclosed, but involve equity investments, initial payments and research support, and milestone…

  • Genentech, 23andMe to Analyze Parkinson’s Genome Data

    6 January 2015. Personal genomics company 23andMe plans to analyze the genomes of 3,000 of its clients to discover new Parkinson’s disease drug targets for biotechnology company Genentech, a division of the pharmaceutical company Roche. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed. 23andMe, in Mountain View, California, provides genetic ancestry testing services, but also…

  • Amgen, Kite Pharma Partner on Personal Cancer Immunotherapy

    5 January 2014. The biotechnology companies Amgen and Kite Pharma are developing personalized cancer treatments harnessing the immune system in a deal combining Amgen’s targets with Kite Pharma’s cell therapies. The agreement is expected to bring up to $525 million in milestone payments plus sales royalties to each company, as well as an upfront payment…

  • Lilly, Biotech Partner on Fast-Acting Insulin Analog

    19 December 2014. The pharmaceutical company Eli Lilly and Company and biotechnology company Adocia are collaborating on commercial development of Adocia’s fast-acting synthetic insulin product. Adocia, based in Lyon, France, can gain as much as $570 million in the deal, not counting royalties on future sales. Adocia develops enhanced formulations of protein-based therapies either on…

  • Janssen, Biotech Partner on Drug Delivery Technology

    17 December 2014. Halozyme Therapeutics, a biotechnology company in San Diego, is licensing its drug delivery technology for under-the-skin injections to Janssen Biotech, one of the Janssen Pharmaceutical companies and a division of Johnson & Johnson. The deal is expected to bring Halozyme up to $581 million in initial and milestone payments. Halozyme develops synthetic…

  • Spin-Off Building Simplifed Signal Processing Connections

    16 December 2014. An engineering lab at Columbia University in New York is spinning off a new company aiming to design simpler connections between analog and digital signals as systems get smaller and performance becomes more demanding. Seamless Devices Inc., founded by electrical engineering professor Peter Kinget and former graduate student Jayanth Kuppambatti, began in…

  • Pfizer, Opko Partner on Growth Hormone Drug

    16 December 2014. The pharmaceutical company Pfizer is licensing an engineered compound to treat human growth hormone deficiency in adults and children from Opko Health Inc., a provider of therapeutics and diagnostics. The deal has a potential value to Opko of $570 million, plus royalties from sales. Opko Health, based in Miami, offers drugs and…