Case Studies

Case One:

Innovative Licensing Concepts Deliver Strategic Value

MaxCyte, a cell therapy company, faced two strategic imperatives: generating near-term revenue and deriving value from its academic collaborations. Bringing a fresh perspective, Collabrity identified a path forward: instead of advancing drug candidates through an extended approval process, it successfully accelerated the out-licensing of a therapeutic program at an earlier clinical stage previously in-licensed from an academic center.

“Chris Lehman served as a critical catalyst in our strategic market launch session for a new therapeutic and led the implementation of our business development effort.” – Doug Doerfler, CEO, MaxCyte, Inc.

Case Two:

Gene Therapy: Licensing In to License Out

While Adeno-Associated Virus (AAV) has significant safety advantages for gene delivery, in the past its manufacturing capability had been limited. AGTC’s solution to the problem involved a novel “helper” virus that could dramatically increase manufacturing productivity. Collabrity helped AGTC in-license the necessary intellectual property rights to the helper virus from MedImmune and also helped to in-license other critical rights from academic centers.

Subsequently, with Collabrity’s assistance, AGTC executed an agreement with Genzyme that licensed their AAV gene therapy across a broad range of indications, advancing the validation of their technology and leveraging their invested capital.

Case Three:

Establishing a Clinical Oncology Program Through Cross-licensing
Since spinning out of Genentech in the early 1980’s, Genencor had been a leader in industrial biotechnology. Upon going public, Genencor’s management signaled its strategic intent to enter the medical field. Chris Lehman, Collabrity’s Managing Partner, initiated, negotiated and closed what was to become Genencor’s first strategic alliance in therapeutics as a public company.

The strategic alliance between Genencor and Seattle Genetics involved equity financing, sponsorship of R&D and cross-licensing of intellectual property rights. It also afforded Genencor its most advanced drug candidate at the time: an antibody-directed prodrug therapy for late stage melanoma.