News
Oct 15, 2012
Biopontis Alliance presenting at Kansas Economic Policy Conference
Barbara Handelin, President at BioPontis Alliance, will be presenting at the Kansas Economic Policy Conference in Lawrence on October 18 on the topic of fostering an innovation based economy by cultivating the translation of academic research of new business that resides in the state's academic research and engineering institutions.
Oct 2, 2012
Biopontis Alliance presented at the Partnerships in Drug Delivery Conference
Richard Basile, CEO at BioPontis Alliance presented the BioPontis model at the Partnerships in Drug Delivery conference. His remarks at the panel on "Developing and Commercializing Early Stage Technologies from Academia" were aimed to help attendees think about new types of partnering models, beyond straight licensing and sponsored research as well as the challenges in the academic technology transfer process.
August 16, 2012
Celgene Joins BioPontis Alliance as Strategic Partner
Celgene has joined with BioPontis Alliance as a key strategic partner with special focus in oncology. The attraction of Celgene to BioPontis Alliance stems from Celgene's recognition that fundamental discovery science is the basis for new therapeutic products that Celgene will bring to patients in need of transformative treatments. BioPontis provides the sourcing of such discovery science at academic institutions, one of the principle sources that Celgene is targeting for new candidate compounds. BioPontis and Celgene will work together to identify innovative drug candidate opportunities. BioPontis will then apply its translational research Partnerships to rigorously test and selectively advance portfolio assets. Celgene will have opportunity to access these oncology candidates at any time in the development process with options to acquire/license.
"We are very proud to announce Celgene's leadership in committing to BioPontis. Their success in developing important cancer therapies, such as Revlimid, that truly impact patient lives, means that we have achieved first class endorsement of our investment and development thesis", declared Richard Basile, CEO at BioPontis Alliance.
May 2, 2012
Dr. Robert Spiegel joins BioPontis Alliance as Advisor
RALIEGH, N.C., May 2, 2012 - BioPontis Alliance is continuing to build their circle of expertise in translational research and early stage biopharmaceutical investments with their announcement today that Dr. Robert Spiegel is joining their Advisory panel. Dr. Spiegel brings deep executive leadership experience with more than 26 years of senior VP executive roles at Schering- Plough in clinical development, culminating in a decade as Chief Medical Officer. Prior to his global responsibilities in clinical development and well-aligned to BioPontis' therapeutic focus, Dr. Spiegel had previously led cancer and anti-infectives drug development as Director for Oncology Clinical research at Schering, as well as Senior Director for Anti-Infectives.
"We are truly honored to have Robert Spiegel join the BioPontis Advisory board. His recognition and support of our novel approach to traversing the Valley of Death to reinvigorate the pharmaceutical sector with quality preclinical stage compounds is an important affirmation that the industry can be - and must be – restructured.", says BioPontis Alliance's founder, Richard Basile. " Dr. Spiegel brings the required perspective of the clinical development hurdles, but equally importantly, a deep knowledge of how the beginning of the pipeline can make enormous differences in the value of new medicines emerging from the entire industry."
Dr. Spiegel earned his B.A. from Yale University and M.D. from the University of Pennsylvania. He has published over 70 scientific papers and serves on the Board of Directors of a number of biotech companies.
February 2, 2012
Covance and BioPontis Alliance Collaborate to Bridge Drug Development Gap
Exclusive Translational Medicine Relationship Links Academia and Industry
PRINCETON, N.J., February 2, 2012 — Covance Inc. (NYSE: CVD) today announced the signing of a three-year, exclusive integrated drug development agreement with BioPontis Alliance to manage early development of scientific discoveries from academia. The agreement provides that Covance will be the exclusive provider to BioPontis Alliance of drug development services, including discovery support, preclinical, bioanalytical, CMC, clinical, central labs and commercialization.
Sourcing discovery science through collaborative relationships with leading research universities and other institutions, BioPontis Alliance identifies and develops early stage discoveries and technologies, providing the medical industry with efficient access to preclinical innovation. In this unique early development model, Covance will integrate and manage the services required to move a compound from lead optimization into the clinic, providing the scientific and operational continuity that reduces the feasibility gap between academic intellectual property and human proof of concept.
"Designing customized solutions that meet the unique needs of each client is the hallmark of our partnering philosophy," said John Watson, Chief Commercial Officer and President, Strategic Partnering, Covance. "This collaboration creates a new way for Covance to leverage our scientific expertise and broad portfolio of drug development services to advance the promising science of academia and deliver greater medical innovation to the biopharmaceutical industry." READ MORE.
February 1, 2012
BioPontis Alliance President to speak at the World Pharma Innovation Conference on "Disruptive Thinking"
Barbara Handelin, PhD, will be speaking this week to the World Pharma Innovation Conference during a day long series of talks and panels on The Future Therapeutic Development Model. Presenting in a special session on "Disruptive Thinking; Evaluating the Status Quo", Dr. Handelin will offer the BioPontis Alliance perspective on the urgent need to remodel the earliest, foundational stage of drug discovery by designing a new investment and scientific development structure. Comments will include how jobs creation and invigoration of the pharmaceutical industry are reliant on this redesign.
January 31, 2012
Biopontis Alliance Fund and Rosa Announce Strategic Relationship for Early Stage Drug Development.
Collaboration will combine Rosa's PhysioPD™ modeling & simulation capabilities with Biopontis' innovative asset sourcing and financial structure to improve early drug development productivity
(Raleigh, North Carolina) – Biopontis Alliance, Inc, (www.biopontisalliance.com) a unique firm combining early-stage capital investment with early-stage drug development, today announced that it has completed a strategic partnership agreement with Rosa and Co. (www.rosaandco.com), an advisory firm with leading expertise in PhysioPD and PKPD drug disease modeling and simulation. Rosa's capabilities will be key in helping the Biopontis Alliance fund select the most promising candidate assets and efficiently advance them through the early-stage drug development process.
"BioPontis Alliance's industry expertise and unique financial structure and asset sourcing, combined with our PhysioPD and PKPD technologies, is a powerful way to enhance investment returns through faster attrition, more informative studies, and deeper understanding of novel mechanisms of action and their potential clinical efficacy" said Ron Beaver, Ph.D., President and CEO of Rosa and Co. "We are proud to partner with BioPontis Alliance to quickly bring much-needed new medicines from novel academic research to market.".READ MORE. (Links to PDF).
January 19, 2012
Oregon Health & Science University Joins BioPontis Alliance to Advance Research Discoveries
University is first West Coast academic institution to join the alliance
Oregon Health & Science University has joined the University Partnership of BioPontis Alliance, becoming the ninth premier institution engaged in the partnership to improve how discoveries made in laboratories at academic research centers translate into public benefit.
With the agreement, BioPontis Alliance will work to identify innovative and translational science with the potential to become treatments for cancer, neurological disorders, inflammation and infectious diseases. BioPontis Alliance will provide both a direct investment in support of academic inventors as well as a network of partners to challenge the viability of new drug targets or drug compounds; those that successfully stand the challenge will be advanced to generate the proof of principle data that pharmaceutical licensors require as a foundation for real-world treatments and cures.
"OHSU is pleased to be the first West Coast partner to join this group of leading institutions," said OHSU President Joe Robertson, M.D., M.B.A. "We're excited to begin work with BioPontis Alliance to identify promising inventions and leverage our research expertise in an effort to accelerate the lab to market process." READ MORE.
January 13, 2012
BioPontis Alliance Invited to Participate in White House Briefing Jobs Creation in an Innovation Economy
BioPontis Alliances' CEO, Mr. Richard Basile, participated today in a White House Briefing with senior White House staff and leadership from the Department of Commerce and Small Business Administration. The Administration sought guidance and ideas from select business leaders from North Carolina regarding job creation and sustainable job growth.
BioPontis Alliance was selected for this four-hour briefing as a visionary model for leveraging our innovative base in American universities into knowledge economy jobs while improving the nations' health.
Mr. Basile was able to share important features of the conceptualization of the firm:
Financing of early stage technology development is a bottleneck to the US being able to grow an innovation-based economy. The so called 'Valley of Death' between discoveries about the causes of human disease and the engine of pharmaceutical product development industry cannot be solved without new financing models. The legacy mechanism, venture capital, is contracting. BioPontis Alliance model is an executable solution to the problems that hinder the critical, early steps necessary to translate novel scientific advances and discoveries into commercially viable diagnostics, devices, therapeutics, and tools that improve patient care and advance public health.
BioPontis Alliance is a business model that could be replicated across the industry and put hundreds of thousands of scientists, who have been recently laid off by the pharmaceutical industry, back to work.
The full video from the breifing can be found Here.
January 05, 2012
AMRI Announces Preferred Provider Agreement with BioPontis Alliance LLC
Albany, NY (January 5, 2012)—AMRI (NASDAQ: AMRI), a global contract services organization, announced today that it has entered into a preferred provider agreement with BioPontis Alliance LLC. The agreement is aimed at supporting BioPontis' mission to bridge the gap between early-stage research and technologies being discovered and developed in academia and other research entities. AMRI will provide its services in small molecule discovery, development, and manufacturing in BioPontis' drug discovery research programs. The agreement also supports the need for proof-of-concept data that is required in the current pharmaceutical company licensing environment. The goal of BioPontis Alliance is to identify promising early stage product opportunities and utilize a preferred network of CROs and leading research companies to apply appropriate expertise to develop these opportunities enough to attract pharmaceutical company licensing partners. READ MORE
October 20, 2011
KU partners with BioPontis Alliance to boost drug development, investment
LAWRENCE — The troublesome gap between university drug research and pharmaceutical company application may narrow in the future, thanks to an agreement signed recently between the University of Kansas and a rapidly emerging new enterprise: BioPontis Alliance.
"There's a big hurdle to overcome when it comes to translating faculty innovations into therapies and cures," said Chancellor Bernadette Gray-Little in announcing the deal. "It's often difficult to get the venture capital you need to develop an idea to the point where a company will invest in it. We think the BioPontis model shows great promise for turning discoveries into treatments." READ MORE.
September 12, 2011
BioPontis Alliance profiled by Nature Biotechnology in “New models emerge for commercializing university assets” article
“Faced with a dwindling supply of traditional venture capital and fewer funds focusing on early-stage research, universities are partnering with commercial entities that offer investor knowledge, industry contacts and R&D capacity in return for academic intellectual property.” Nature Biotechnology reports in a September 8 article titled “New models emerge for commercializing university assets.” As the lead of the article continues, “One of these entities, BioPontis Alliance, headquartered in Research Triangle Park, Raleigh-Durham, North Carolina, is rapidly building a network of university partners from which it can cherry pick IP assets.” Read more
BioPontis Alliance CSO Henri Lichenstein to Speak on November 3 at Rutgers CIVET Seminar
Henri Lichenstein, PhD, chief scientific officer and a principal of BioPontis Alliance, will speak on November 3 at the Rutgers Center for Innovative Ventures of Emerging Technology (CIVET) in Piscataway, New Jersey. CIVET is organization within Rutgers University dedicated to the efficient translation and commercialization of academic science and technology. Dr. Lichenstein will participate in a seminar series titled “Technical Entrepreneurship,” which CIVET initiated three years ago in order to bring subject-matter experts together with students, industry scientists and the like, to learn about the “practical” side of successful technology commercialization. He will share his experience in developing and commercializing products within the pharmaceutical and biotechnology industries. With more than 20 years of drug-development experience, Dr. Lichenstein brings depth to the scientific leadership of BioPontis Alliance following his careers at Amgen, CuraGen and, most recently, Topotarget, AG, in Copenhagen, Denmark. As a member of the senior-management teams at CuraGen and Topotarget, he had strategic scientific-decision and budget responsibilities that enabled value enhancement of company-product candidates, using disciplined portfolio-management principles. Throughout his career, he has led numerous successful development efforts, resulting in the advancement of protein, monoclonal-antibody and small-molecule therapeutics from discovery through preclinical and beyond IND to clinical development. In addition to leading internal R&D efforts across numerous disease indications, he has led scientific due-diligence teams and closed a number of product-development deals (both in- and out-licensing) worth in excess of $600 million.
BioPontis Alliance is Highlighted in FasterCures’ Summary of Financial Innovations for Translational Research Lab
BioPontis Alliance is highlighted in Fixes in Financing Needed to Bridge the Valley of DeathFasterCures' summary of the recent Financial Innovations for Translational Research Lab. Barbara Handelin, president of BioPontis Alliance, participated in the Milken Institute's invitation-only Lab on July 19 in New York City. The Labs are miniature think-tanks in action, designed to devise new business models, capital structures and financial technologies that can achieve concrete goals. Policymakers, business and finance professionals and industry experts examine case studies and share expertise in a rigorous but freewheeling exchange. Together, they arrive at market-based solutions to specific business or policy dilemmas, clearing the way toward progress. The invitation was an indicator of the rising recognition that the BioPontis Alliance model is a robust, scalable, replicable and practical solution to the “Valley of Death" problem, which, if not solved, would cripple the health-care industry for years to come.
BioPontis profiled by BioCentury SciBX in ‘Gap-filling alliance’ article
“BioPontis Alliance LLC is taking a fresh approach to addressing the translational gap," BioCentury SciBX reports in an August 4 article titled "Gap-filling alliance." "Instead of taking discoveries from universities and forming companies, BioPontis starts with its knowledge of industry's portfolio needs and works backward. The company hopes to close a $50-million pilot fund by year end and start its first two R&D projects early next year. The model is one of a number of experiments that early-stage investors are running to solve the translational gap. These include VCs such as Atlas Venture and Index Ventures that are setting up single-project companies with minimal infrastructure as well as firms like PureTech Ventures that start with an unmet need, look for potential solutions in academia, then establish companies to drive these solutions to clinical and commercial milestones.”
BioPontis CEO Richard Basile to be a panelist at Drug Discovery in Academia Conference
Richard Basile, CEO of BioPontis Alliance, will be a panelist for the Structuring Partnership Programs: A Perspective from Academia & Industry session of the Johns Hopkins Medicine Brain Science Institute’s Drug Discovery in Academia Conference on October 18, 2011 in Baltimore. The business of drug discovery is changing. Over the last several years, a new model has emerged that bridges academic-translational strengths with the pharmaceutical and biotechnology industries. The Conference will examine these key questions: What are the opportunities, challenges and risks to be addressed to forge these alliances? What are best practices? What could this new future look like?
BioPontis Alliance is featured in BioWorld Insight article on product-development firms
BioPontis Alliance is featured in a July 18 BioWorld Insight article titled “Product Development Corporations Share Risks, Gain Popularity: Bridging the Valley of Death.” The article quotes BioPontis CEO Richard Basile and President Barbara Handelin regarding the potential of their economic and IP-sharing partnership with academic sources. “BioPontis is attempting to bridge the funding gap by setting up alliances on both sides of the valley of death,” the article states. “Over the last two years, the firm has established agreements with eight academic institutions as well as several big pharmas. The academic agreements allow BioPontis to sort through the myriad of technology coming out of the institutions and eventually create licenses for specific technologies. 'We can read the real signal and wash the distracters away,' said Barbara Handelin, president of BioPontis. But just licensing good compounds isn't enough. 'You have to find a way to incorporate experience and interest in your ultimate customer up front,' Handelin said.” Biopontis, the article also reports, “is setting up a $50-million fund that will come from investment firms looking for returns, but also is expected to contain contributions from strategic LPs, small and mid-cap product companies and CROs that will have options to acquire molecules that BioPontis is developing. The fund is expected to support 20 to 25 projects, but that assumes a failure rate of 75 percent, said Richard Basile, BioPontis’ CEO. He hopes the first fund can serve as a pilot project that can propel the firm to bring in more academic institutions and pharma partners.” Read
July 14, 2011
BioPontis President Barbara Handelin to participate in Milken Institute’s invitation-only Financial Innovations for Translational Research Lab
Barbara Handelin, president of BioPontis Alliance, has been invited to participate in the Milken Institute's invitation-only Financial Innovations for Translational Research Lab on July 19, 2011 in New York City. Financial Innovations Labs are miniature think-tanks in action, designed to devise new business models, capital structures and financial technologies that can achieve concrete goals. Policymakers, business and finance professionals and industry experts examine case studies and share expertise in a rigorous but freewheeling exchange. Together, they arrive at market-based solutions to specific business or policy dilemmas, clearing the way toward progress. The invitation is an indicator of the rising recognition that the BioPontis model is a robust, scalable, replicable and practical solution to the “Valley of Death” problem, which, if not solved, would cripple the health-care industry for years to come.
June 29, 2011
BioPontis Alliance Announces Agreement with Janssen Biotech in Translational Research for Drug Development
BioPontis Alliance, LLC announced today that it has entered into a Translational Research Agreement for drug development with Janssen Biotech, Inc. (formerly Centocor Ortho Biotech, Inc.). With this agreement, Janssen Biotech becomes the third pharmaceutical company to join the alliance structure of BioPontis, which has now established an end-to-end solution to enable translation of discoveries into new treatments for important human diseases.
BioPontis Alliance and some of its partners will hold a news event during the 2011 BIO International Convention on Wednesday, June 29 at 3:00 p.m. (Eastern) in Room 208A of the Walter E. Washington Convention Center in Washington, D.C., to discuss how the BioPontis model is promising to be transformational in the translation of discoveries into new medicines.
BioPontis Alliance is a first-in-kind hybrid investment-fund and product-development company, which has established research alliances with academia through which it identifies innovative science with potential to be translated into new treatments for cancer, neurology, inflammation and infectious diseases. With direct investment out of the company's fund, BioPontis scientists work with the academic-inventor scientists and a network of Technology Development Partners to validate and advance products toward the pipelines of biopharmaceutical licensors. BioPontis currently has agreements with a consortium of leading universities and research institutions, including New York University, Columbia University, Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, University of Pennsylvania, University of North Carolina (Chapel Hill), University of Virginia and University of Florida.
Under the agreement with Janssen Biotech, Biopontis Alliance will receive input and guidance to ensure that its early science and development programs are aligned with market demand and advice on successful product-development strategy. BioPontis will maintain control over its strategy and options for licensing to the general pharmaceutical industry. Under the agreement, Janssen Biotech will have access to evaluate and license early-stage therapeutic opportunities.
“At BioPontis, we believe that the knowledge to find truly effective treatments already exists in innovative university labs supported by billions of federal dollars,” says Barbara Handelin, PhD, president of BioPontis Alliance. “We further believe that the biomedical industry can be made more efficient by bringing essential knowledge from all stakeholders to bear on the development of effective and affordable therapies.”
At the 2011 BIO International Convention on Monday, June 27, Barbara Handelin moderated the Translational Research Forum session titled Unique Funding Mechanisms and Ways to Generate Know-How.
BioPontis Alliance Enters Translational-Technology Development Agreement with Pfizer
BioPontis Alliance, LLC announced today that it has entered into a Translational-Technology Development agreement with Pfizer, Inc. The agreement is an element of BioPontis' unique business model, which combines translational drug research with its own asset-based investment fund. Pfizer is the second leading pharmaceutical company to join the alliance structure at BioPontis, which is a first-in-kind vehicle for capturing innovative science from academia and doing the necessary work to potentially translate discoveries into drug candidates for further development by pharmaceutical companies such as Pfizer.
BioPontis has established research alliances with a group of the nation's leading academic-research institutes, in which BioPontis searches for innovative science that has the potential to be translated into new treatments for cancer, neurology, inflammation and infectious diseases. BioPontis currently has agreements with a consortium of leading universities and research institutions, including New York University, Columbia University, Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, University of Pennsylvania, University of North Carolina (Chapel Hill), University of Virginia and University of Florida.
"The gap between early science and translation into clinical applications presents an opportunity for industry and academia to collaborate in an unprecedented manner," says Uwe Schoenbeck, Chief Scientific Officer for external R&D at Pfizer. "We at Pfizer are committed to establishing productive relationships with academic scientists and the BioPontis agreement complements other innovation initiatives at Pfizer, such as our Centers for Therapeutic Innovation. We are excited to have the opportunity to work alongside BioPontis Alliance as they conduct critical translational research and development on promising new science."
Under the agreement, Pfizer will provide guidance on the BioPontis product portfolio to help ensure that BioPontis' investment in particular development programs is in alignment with clinical need and market demand. Pfizer will have the opportunity to provide BioPontis with scientific and medical advice on the design of experiments and the product profile needed for a successful product-development strategy. In addition, Pfizer will have an opportunity to evaluate and license early-stage therapeutic opportunities.
"The rapidly changing pharmaceutical-development market is recognizing BioPontis as a leading new enterprise for efficiently translating academic-discovery science into technologies validated for clinical development that target cancer, neurologic, inflammation and infectious diseases, " according to Barbara Handelin, PhD, president of BioPontis Alliance. "We are excited to have Pfizer as a partner of BioPontis. Pfizer, along with Merck, will help as we continue to expand the development bridge between our academic-partner inventors and the patients who rely upon translational research for improved health outcomes."
December 15, 2010
The University of Virginia Joins BioPontis University Alliance
Premier Academic Research University Joins with Alliance to Enhance Application of Scientific Research
New York, New York, BioPontis Alliance, LLC announced today, at the Partnering for Cures meeting in New York City, that the University of Virginia has entered into a biomedical development partnership agreement as the newest member of the BioPontis University Alliance. UVa joins other leading academic research institutions in BioPontis Alliance LLC’s model to dramatically improve how scientific discoveries are translated into real world medicine.
This announcement comes after yesterday's news that Merck Sharp & Dohme has entered into a technology development and collaboration agreement with BioPontis Alliance.
BioPontis Alliance is the creator of a first-in-kind business model that bridges the feasibility gap of discovery biomedical research between its university alliance partners and the biopharmaceutical industry. Working closely with its research partners, BioPontis Alliance’s scientific and commercialization industry veterans select promising science and then work with the inventing scientist in a novel partnership. With BioPontis’ capital investment, together they perform the required proof of principle work that reduces risk and builds value in the science as it moves toward being proven as a new therapeutic approach.
"We're excited to join the BioPontis University Alliance. The model offers an attractive mechanism for capitalizing on UVA's strong initiatives in Innovation Partnerships and Translational Research." said W. Mark Crowell, the University of Virginia’s Executive Director and Associate Vice President for Innovation Partnerships and Commercialization.
BioPontis University Alliance Partners make up a research consortia that represent a robust discovery engine fueled by nearly $1 Billion in biomedical research funding. These partners include:
- Columbia University
- The University of Virginia
- Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center
- New York University (including School of Medicine)
- The University of North Carolina – Chapel Hill
- The University of Florida
- The University of Pennsylvania
BioPontis Alliance utilizes a select network of translational scientific development partners and experts for each program, employing the best minds and capabilities for each program rather than relying on the resources of any single company or institution. This unique collaboration enables BioPontis Alliance and its University Alliance Partners to share scientific data and inventions along with their resulting economic value.
"Recent announcements with the University of Virginia and Merck Sharp & Dohme are evidence of the need for the model that the BioPontis Alliance is bringing to the industry," said Dr. Barbara Handelin, President at BioPontis Alliance. "Increased industry collaboration through this model will be essential in transforming more academic research into higher quality patient care."
BioPontis Alliance announces agreement with Merck in translational drug research
New York, New York, BioPontis Alliance, LLC announced today that it has entered into an innovative strategic agreement with Merck (known outside the US and Canada as MSD) designed to bridge the gap between early academic discovery science and the development of medicines and technologies that impact human health. The announcement was made at the prestigious Partnering For Cures Conference that is convened annually for the purpose of forging strategic cross-sector collaborations.
BioPontis Alliance LLC, is a first-in-kind hybrid investment fund and scientific development company. The company selects promising scientific inventions from academic laboratories, invests in and directly develops a portfolio of technologies that address unmet medical needs in cancer, infectious and neurological diseases. BioPontis Alliance has access to a deep source of discovery science through its uniquely partnered consortium of leading universities and research institutions. BioPontis has previously disclosed the University Alliance Partners of New York University, Columbia University, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, University of Pennsylvania, University of North Carolina (Chapel Hill) and University of Florida. A seventh University member will be announced tomorrow, according to representatives of BioPontis Alliance.
"At Merck we are committed to working with our partners to maximize the potential of scientific discoveries relevant to the development of new drug therapies," said David Nicholson, senior vice president and Head, Worldwide Licensing and Knowledge Management at Merck. "We look forward to working with BioPontis Alliance’s scientific managers to apply our translational medicine expertise in expediting the advancement of early innovative drug candidates and technologies with a focus on improving the lives of the patients that need them."
Under the agreement, Merck will provide BioPontis Alliance with guidance on Merck product portfolio priorities, thereby ensuring alignment of market demand with the discovery science that BioPontis Alliance will invest in. Merck will also provide BioPontis Alliance with scientific and medical counsel on product development strategy, design of experiments, selection of technical development tools and resources, and final development milestone objectives. These close engagements and consultations will provide guidance for BioPontis in developing new therapies that are aligned with the product pipeline needs of Merck, while maintaining control over its strategy and options for licensing to the industry generally. The agreement provides Merck with informed access to license evaluated therapeutic technologies.
"We have created a new continuum linking discovery science to product developers with the innovative translational investment and development capability of BioPontis Alliance," said Barbara Handelin, PhD, President, BioPontis Alliance. "It is evident that in order to improve productivity and to ensure that therapies that truly impact human health are developed, the innovation foundation of the biomedical industry needs to change. BioPontis Alliance represents a new paradigm that ties the need for shared scientific knowledge and development to the entrepreneurial and intellectual property interests of all contributors. "
December 1, 2010
BioPontis Alliance and Taconic enter into scientific development partnership around Genetically Modified Models for Translational Research
Hudson, New York, Taconic, a leading provider of life sciences solutions, announced that it has entered into a scientific development and preferred provider agreement with BioPontis Alliance LLC, a biomedical development company. BioPontis Alliance will employ Taconic’s translational genetically modified models and scientific services in preclinical research efforts to accelerate the advancement of new medical discoveries. Taconic has been supplying a wide range of such models to pharmaceutical companies and academic institutions for many years. Recently, with the development of is translational mouse models for ADME and oncology portfolios, Taconic has brought together collections of translational mouse models to specifically address disease and drug discovery related questions in oncology and drug metabolism. Taconic links these models into its’ compound profiling platform to provide an integrated product and service offering.
Through its development fund and a unique first-in-kind business model, BioPontis Alliance seeks to bridge the gap between academic discovery science and the development and commercialization of effective therapies. The company reduces early stage development risk by selecting promising science and working with its inventors to advance it toward drug or diagnostic product pipelines. BioPontis Alliance’s scientific and commercialization experts work in collaboration with leading university partners, focusing their efforts primarily on cancer, infectious disease and select neurological disorders.
“Of the thousands of biomedical innovations generated each year, only a few are successfully advanced toward drug discovery pipelines and eventually commercialized,” said Todd F. Little, Taconic President and CEO. “As a company dedicated to improving drug discovery and human health, Taconic is proud to work in partnership with BioPontis Alliance, a unique organization committed to turning promising innovations into effective biomedical therapies.”
Taconic will serve as BioPontis Alliance’s exclusive provider of genetically modified models used in oncology applications. Taconic is also the company’s preferred provider for in vivo clinical studies in the areas of oncology, neurology and infectious disease; compound profiling services; phenotyping services; and custom-generated models for use in preclinical efficacy and safety testing. To support its oncology initiatives, BioPontis also will leverage Taconic’s advanced bioluminescent imaging of tumor cells, along with its genetically modified models predisposed to tumor development.
“Sophisticated, precisely defined animal models are vital to the in vivo translational research that is the foundation of BioPontis Alliance’s mission,” said Dr. Barbara Handelin, President of BioPontis Alliance. “Taconic’s robust line of genetically modified models, advanced custom model generation services and reliable scientific services will serve as critical tools that enable us to help our partners turn promising science into successful medical products.”
Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center Joins BioPontis University Alliance.
Leading Research University Adopts New Model for Increasing Delivering of New Science to Patients
BioPontis Alliance LLC today announced that it has entered into a biomedical development partnership with Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center (MSKCC) aimed at accelerating the advancement of new medical discoveries. As a member of the BioPontis Alliance, along with other leading medical research institutions, MSKCC continues to play a major role in increasing how scientific research at the bench is translated into real world medicine that improves the quality of care for patients around the world.
BioPontis Alliance is the creator of a first-in-kind business model that bridges the feasibility gap of discovery biomedical research between its university alliance partners and the biopharmaceutical industry. Working closely with its research partners such as MSKCC, BioPontis Alliance's scientific and commercialization industry veterans select promising science and then work with the inventing scientist in a novel partnership. With BioPontis' capital investment, together they perform the required proof of principle work that reduces risk and builds value in the science as it moves toward being proven as a new therapeutic approach. BioPontis Alliance utilizes a select network of translational scientific development partners and experts on each program such that the best minds and capabilities are brought to each program, rather than relying on the resources of any single company or institution. Quite uniquely, BioPontis Alliance and the Universities combine their scientific data and inventions and share the combined economic value generated by the partnership.
“It is our goal to conduct research that informs and makes vital contributions to the development of new and better cancer therapies,” said Dr. Eric Cottington, Vice President, Research and Technology Management at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center. “Our partnership with BioPontis Alliance will assist us in closing the gap between our most promising early phase discoveries and the patients who need them.”
“BioPontis Alliance is committed to leveraging our unique relationships with university partner institutions in order to identify, invest in, develop and exit a portfolio of biomedical inventions in the fields of cancer, infectious diseases, and neurologic disease,” said Dr. Barbara Handelin, President at BioPontis Alliance.
March 16, 2010
BioPontis Alliance enters transformative partnerships with major universities to unleash innovative science toward medical product development.
BioPontis Alliance LLC announces a biomedical development partnership with a charter group of leading private and public universities. New York University (including NYU School of Medicine), University of Florida, the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and the University of Pennsylvania have entered into memorandums of understanding with BioPontis Alliance to facilitate the advancement of promising research discoveries.
BioPontis will conduct the intermediary technical and patent development work that must be completed to attract downstream development partners in the biopharmaceutical industry. BioPontis Alliance brings industry veteran expertise to its portfolio of select technology projects sourced from its academic research partners.
“NYU is committed to translational research and has a strong track record in seeing its discoveries successfully commercialized to benefit the public,” said Abram Goldfinger, Executive Director of the NYU Office of Industrial Liaison. “For this reason we chose to work with BioPontis Alliance, as they are experienced at navigating the long and complex process of transforming researching into actual medical products, and are committed to helping our university continue to develop new technologies that can be shared with the public.”
“At UNC-Chapel Hill, we are striving to advance biomedical innovations that show potential to improve health care but are too early for commercialization," said Tony Waldrop, vice chancellor for research and economic development. "We think BioPontis Alliance could help us bridge that gap between the lab and the market place.”
BioPontis Alliance will work closely with participating faculty inventors so that both parties can benefit from critical research and knowledge gains as development projects are translated toward commercialization. The BioPontis model promotes real collaboration on testing and validation, as well as on patent enhancements; a departure from typical pass-off relationships between academia and industry.
“What is likely to fuel this collaboration is the attractiveness of the BioPontis Alliance model, which brings desperately needed financial resources and development expertise to bear at one of the most critical and delicate stages of university-based technology validation and commercialization,” remarked Michael J. Cleare Ph.D., Associate Vice Provost and Executive Director of the Center for Technology Transfer at the University of Pennsylvania. “Universities need a palette of mechanisms to choose from as we work to meet our commitment to achieving public good from our innovative science”, David Day of the University of Florida notes. “BioPontis Alliance is a model that could be reiterated across many scientific fields and many institutions”.
BioPontis Alliance is currently raising a fund that is attracting strategic investors as the company provides early access to the innovation flow much needed by the pharmaceutical industry. “Co-investment by private investors is also anticipated,” says Dr. Barbara Handelin, President at BioPontis Alliance, “as we deploy capital extremely efficiently across the portfolio, avoiding fixed costs by employing almost exclusively contracted R&D facilities and expertise. We have figured out how to de-risk this space starting with the right applied science and patenting expertise. Selection of candidate technologies is the initial and key step. Here our attention is on clinical need, a therapeutic area focus, and a clear regulatory pathway.”
BioPontis Alliance expects to announce several additional potential university alliance partners and major pharmaceutical partners in the near future.