US-based drugs company Eli Lilly has agreed to acquire its corporate venturing unit’s portfolio company Avid Radiopharmaceuticals for up to $800m.
Lilly will pay $300m initially and a further $500m depending on the performance of Avid’s Florbetapir F 18, which can be used to potentially help treat Alzheimer’s disease (see picture). Avid also provides Lilly with a technology platform for drug discovery in other areas.
John Lechleiter, executive chairman at Lilly, said: "The acquisition of Avid Radiopharmaceuticals aligns well with Lilly’s innovation-based strategy, offers a potential near-term revenue opportunity, leverages our neuroscience expertise and will immediately bolster our diagnostics capabilities."
Darren Carroll , vice president of corporate business development at Eli Lilly and the head of corporate venturing units Lily Ventures and Lilly Asian Ventures, by email said: " Avid is the first acquisition by Eli Lilly of a Lilly Ventures portfolio company.
"Our equity ownership in Avid was not our only relationship with the company, however — Avid was, and remains, an important collaborator in Lilly’s clinical development of new potential therapies for Alzheimers’ disease.
"The Avid acquisition plays to our neuroscience strengths, potentially provides a significant source of revenue, and offers a diagnostic platform for further development in neuroscience and diabetes.
"Most important, Avid’s lead molecule in development, AV-45, may provide a much needed source of diagnostic information for Alzheimers’ patients and their caregivers."
Avid’s other backers are corporate venturing units from medical device maker Safeguard Scientifics and drugs company Pfizer; mutual fund manager AllianceBernstein; venture capital firms Osage University Partners, RK Ventures and Alta Partners; and a Pennsylvania state innovation fund called BioAdvance.
In May last year, Avid closed its series D round at $34.5m, while its $26m series C round closed two years earlier. Its first institutional round of funding was $8.9m in January 2006.
Barclays Capital advised Lilly, while Morgan Stanley aided Avid on the deal.