Aventis/Regeneron: Validation by Association
Executive Summary
In the past, drug companies paid big fees up front only for drugs that had demonstrated clear clinical validation. But in paying $80 million cash up front for Regeneron's VEGF Trap cancer candidate--the highest up-front fee ever for a Phase I--Aventis is relying on data generated not by the compound in question, but by another product targeting the same receptor.
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