Profits Are Not Enough: Vertex Buys Aurora

Executive Summary

The low-risk model--don't develop drugs, develop technology and sell it to the drug industry--is on rapid rewind. The latest casualty: Aurora Biosciences, which has given up its lower-risk model of selling technology to throw its lot in with high-risk, high-value Vertex Pharmaceuticals. The moral of this story seems to be that it's better to find a seat at the table in a game with big stakes than simply get paid for dealing the cards.