In Vivo's Top Alliance Of 2017: Cast Your Vote!
Executive Summary
It's time for In Vivo's10th annual Deals of the Year contest. We've selected 15 nominees in three categories – Top Alliance, Top Financing and Top M&A – and you get to pick the winners. (It's free.)
In Vivo's editors have scoured our Deals Of The Month columns and have selected our top five picks for the most significant strategic alliance of 2017. Click the link at the bottom of this page to vote for your favorite.
Medtronic & Aetna's Outcomes-Based Insulin Pump Deal: Medtronic and Aetna have signed an outcomes-based agreement regarding reimbursement of the medtech's self-adjusting insulin pump systems. If patients fall outside of the agreed-upon A1C range, Medtronic will pay Aetna a rebate. Medtronic has a similar deal with UnitedHealth Group and plans to work with other payers as well.
Takeda Adds Two More Microbiome Partners: Takeda, which had an existing microbiome deal with Enterome Bioscience, signed two more in April 2017. One was with Finch Therapeutics, in which Takeda paid $10 million up front for exclusive global rights to a preclinical microbiome candidate for inflammatory bowel disease. [See Deal] The other was with NuBiyota to discover and develop new therapies for undisclosed gastroenterology conditions. [See Deal]
Allergan Options CRISPR Ocular Programs From Editas: Allergan, not known for its interest in early-stage R&D, has obtained exclusive access and the option to license up to five of Editas Medicine's genome-editing ophthalmic programs – including its lead program candidate for Leber congenital amaurosis, a rare, inherited retinal degenerative disease that appears in childhood and leads to blindness. [See Deal]
Biogen Pays To Protect Tecfidera: Biogen is paying $1.25 billion up front in exchange for a license to all intellectual property owned by Denmark's Forward Pharma in the US. Biogen will pay royalties on net sales of any of its multiple sclerosis therapies covered by a Forward Pharma patent and that contain dimethyl fumarate, one of which is Tecfidera – Biogen's biggest revenue generator with $4 billion in sales for 2016. [See Deal]
Regeneron's Novel Deal With Decibel: Regeneron Pharmaceuticals signed a unique agreement with hearing-focused Decibel Therapeutics in which it will make a minority equity investment and provide financial support for R&D, but the two-year-old biotech will retain full worldwide commercial rights to any therapeutics discovered under the collaboration. It's rare for a young biopharma not to concede some commercial rights in exchange for an investment from a larger partner.