US-based biotech developer Vividion Therapeutics secured $101m from pharmaceutical firm Celgene yesterday as part of a strategic collaboration agreement.
The money consists of equity funding and an upfront payment, though individual sizes of each were not disclosed.
Spun out from medical research organisation Scripps Research Institute in 2013, Vividion has developed a platform to assess drug candidates in native biological systems, rather than in an artificial environment which limits the scope of traditional drug discovery processes.
The company is looking to develop therapies for a range of serious illnesses with an unmet clinical need, and the Celgene collaboration will focus on oncology, inflammatory and neurodegenerative indications.
The partnership is set to last for an initial period of four years, though Celgene can choose to extend the agreement by two years in return for an additional payment.
The companies will cooperate on developing drugs based on Vividion’s platform, with the startup leading initial discovery efforts. Celgene has the right to opt into any program once a candidate has secured investigational new drug status with US regulators.
Celgene will have exclusive worldwide rights to certain programs, including the first one, and Vividion will receive royalties on sales as well as milestone payments. Other programs will have the two split US or international development costs, profits and losses.
Vividion raised $50m in a February 2017 series A round co-led by venture capital firms Arch Venture Partners and Versant Ventures, with participation from VC partnership Cardinal Partners.
The company had previously secured $3.5m in 2016 according to a regulatory filing, with Cardinal later identified as the founding investor.
Diego Miralles, Vividion’s CEO, said: “We are extremely pleased to collaborate with a leading medical innovator, Celgene. Our unique drug discovery capabilities provide new, expanded therapeutic possibilities.
“We believe we can transform and accelerate the way small molecules are discovered, as our proprietary screening technology rapidly identifies and advances chemistry for targets that until now have remained undruggable.”