Three separate agreements team the innovative cancer research center with Takeda, Artios/ShangPharma, and Ziopharm. Hoth continues busy deal-making year by licensing gene therapy from North Carolina State.

The pipeline of acne therapeutics is packed with possibilities, but of four candidates to report data so far this year, only one was successful – Allergan's and Paratek's sarecycline, which may be a better antibiotic option, but doesn't give dermatologists a much-needed new mechanism of action.

Derived from Strategic Transactions, a premium source for tracking life sciences deal activity, the Tech Transfer Deals column provides a monthly update on technology transfer deals, reporting licensing agreements between companies and universities or other research institutions within the In Vitro Diagnostics, Medical Devices, and Pharmaceuticals sectors. This month’s column covers deals announced November through December 2014.

The recent launch of several noninvasive gene-based tests for Down syndrome and other fetal chromosomal abnormalities is poised to upend current prenatal screening practices and potentially usher in a new, multibillion-dollar market opportunity in the process. These new tests employ next-generation gene sequencing, along with advanced, risk-based computer algorithms, to detect and characterize fetal genetic abnormalities using the DNA present in a maternal blood sample. And because they are actually able to “interrogate” the DNA, they represent a huge technological advance over the current standard-of-care for prenatal screening.