Atlas Venture, an early-stage venture capital firm, has entered into a multi-year collaboration with drugs company Shire to back start-ups working on rare disease therapeutics and with potential options to buy the portfolio companies for set prices.
Shire’s Human Genetic Therapies unit will work with Atlas’ staff in a similar way to the partnership struck between the VC firm and crops company Monsanto for life sciences companies in April.
Ankit Mahedevia, a principal at Atlas, said: “The number of discussions between venture firms and strategics has picked up over the last few years or so. We expect to see more as firms like ours and others make these decisions.” Mahadevia added the tie-up between Shire and Atlas was part of a wider plan by Atlas to look to tie-up with strategics on research.
Phil Vickers, head of research and development at Shire Human Genetic Therapies, said: “In the day after we issued the announcement we were very pleasantly surprised. People were contacting us with assets they would like to bring into alliance already.”
Bruce Booth, partner at Atlas Venture, added: "There is an unmet need for the discovery and development of rare disease therapeutics and we are pleased to partner with a leader in this space."
Atlas has already been working on structuring its portfolio companies for trade sales. David Grayzel is managing director of Atlas Venture Development Corporation, an asset-centric structure that is partnering with pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies to develop late preclinical and clinical stage programmes.
Additional reporting by Toby Lewis