An international drug giant and a La Jolla venture capital firm are expanding their partnership to create local biotech companies, a sign that the partnership -- and the promise of new disease therapies -- is progressing.
GSK will increase potential milestone payments to Avalon Ventures from $40 million to $50 million for each biotech formed. In return, the venture capital firm is assuming more risk by increasing its proportion of funding by an undisclosed amount.
Image: Biotech investor Jay Lichter, a partner at Avalon Ventures and president and CEO of COI Pharmaceuticals. — Eduardo Contreras
