Pink Sheet is part of Pharma Intelligence UK Limited

This site is operated by Pharma Intelligence UK Limited, a company registered in England and Wales with company number 13787459 whose registered office is 5 Howick Place, London SW1P 1WG. The Pharma Intelligence group is owned by Caerus Topco S.à r.l. and all copyright resides with the group.

This copy is for your personal, non-commercial use. For high-quality copies or electronic reprints for distribution to colleagues or customers, please call +44 (0) 20 3377 3183

Printed By

UsernamePublicRestriction

SANDOZ "INNOVASCAN" BIOTECHNOLOGY DISCOVERY INITIATIVE

Executive Summary

SANDOZ "INNOVASCAN" BIOTECHNOLOGY DISCOVERY INITIATIVE will include investments of $ 150 mil. in 1991 and a total of $ 1 bil. over the next five years in biotechnology, both in-house and externally, the company announced Feb. 1. The direct investment program is described by Sandoz as a "corporate focus" designed "to spot and support biotechnology innovations" in the broad pharmaceutical field. The $ 150 mil. figure for 1991 includes funds already committed to joint ventures, as well as to internal discovery and R&D efforts. A ramp-up from the current $ 150 mil. annual level will occur over the next four years in order to meet the $ 1 bil. investment goal by 1995. Innovascan will look at "all different types of relationships" with biotech companies, Sandoz said. The investment effort will be international in scope as Sandoz seeks to develop relationships with "the broadest possible range" of companies in the biotech field. Sandoz research facilities (Switzerland, the U.S., U.K. and Austria) will provide input for investment opportunities and participate in the resulting programs. Innovascan also plans to invest in Japan. Sandoz has at least four biotechnology partners already. In September of 1989, Sandoz signed a $ 30 mil. five-year deal with La Jolla, California-based Cytel giving it marketing rights and an "under 20%" equity stake in the start-up ("The Pink Sheet" Sep. 25, 1989, T&G-9). Sandoz also has licensing agreements with Repligen and Genelabs for AIDS therapeutics, and with Genetics Institute for GM-CSF. Sandoz owns worldwide licensing rights to the granulocyte macrophage-colony stimulating factor. Sandoz and Schering-Plough have a joint development and co-marketing agreement for the blood cell growth factor. While Sandoz' biotech initiative is large at $ 1 bil., the company is not the first large pharmaceutical house to make an in- house commitment to investments in biotechnology. SmithKline Beckman in 1985 initiated SR-1, a direct-investment rolling fund capitalized at $ 50 mil. SR-1 is still active today under SmithKline leadership. There are currently 20 firms with which SKB has investments under the aegis of SR-1. These include an under-5% stake in Amgen, Applied bioTechnology, British Biotechnology, Quidel, Ribi Immunochem, Sepracor, as well as stakes in Sphinx Biotechnologies and Synbiotics, acquired in 1987 ("The Pink Sheet" Nov. 8, 1987, T&G-2).

You may also be interested in...



Part D Discount Liability Coming Into Focus: CMS Releases Drug Cost Data

Newly released Medicare Part D data sheds light on the sales hit that branded pharmaceutical manufacturers will face when the coverage gap discount program gets under way in 2011

FDA Skin Infections Guidance Spurs Debate On Endpoint Relevance

FDA appears headed for a showdown with clinicians and the pharmaceutical industry over the proposed new clinical trial endpoints for acute bacterial skin and skin structure infections, the guidance's approach for justifying a non-inferiority margin and proposed changes in the types of patients that should be enrolled in trials

Shire Hopes To Sow Future Deals With $50M Venture Fund

Specialty drug maker Shire has quietly begun scouting deals with a brand-new $50 million venture fund, the latest of several in-house investment arms to launch with their parent company's pipelines, not profits, as the measure of their worth

Latest Headlines
See All
UsernamePublicRestriction

Register

PS018779

Ask The Analyst

Ask the Analyst is free for subscribers.  Submit your question and one of our analysts will be in touch.

Your question has been successfully sent to the email address below and we will get back as soon as possible. my@email.address.

All fields are required.

Please make sure all fields are completed.

Please make sure you have filled out all fields

Please make sure you have filled out all fields

Please enter a valid e-mail address

Please enter a valid Phone Number

Ask your question to our analysts

Cancel