Some sweet deals and a bevy of venture financings marked a hectic week of presentations and networking at several conferences in San Francisco, including the annual JPMorgan Healthcare Conference. While many small biotech executives were buoyed by an upbeat mood compared to last year’s event, they are mindful that times are still tough, good deal terms are hard to get, and they must focus on those compounds in their pipeline that offer the most potential for near term revenue. Several executives also expressed cautious optimism that the capital markets will continue to grow more favorable, keeping the possibility of a successful IPO alive.
In the biggest deal of the week, Belgian biotech Galapagos (GLPGF.PK) entered into a $580 million global multi-year strategic alliance with Swiss biopharmaceutical powerhouse Roche (RHHBY.PK) to develop potential new therapies in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, or COPD. Their agreement calls for Galapagos to apply its target discovery platform to discover novel COPD targets and assume the discovery and development of new small molecule candidate drugs against these targets.
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Author: Seeking Alpha
