Novartis Venture Funds, the corporate venturing division of Switzerland-based Novartis ranked first by Global Corporate Venturing last month, has been an important investor in Intellikine and Infinity, which have struck a licensing agreement.
The world’s most influential healthcare corporate venturing unit has used its ties to two US biotech companies to help strike a licensing agreement worth more than $488.5m.
Intellikine has sold global development and commercial rights to its portfolio of anti-inflammatory treatments to Infinity Pharmaceuticals.
Intellikine will receive $13.5m in initial license payments, research funding over the first two years of the relationship, and up to $475m in success-based milestones for two products.
Intellikine will also receive royalties from products licensed to Infinity. For those targeting cancer, Intellikine will have the option, for a fee, at the end of Phase 2 clinical development to convert its royalty interest in US sales into the right to share in up to 50% of profits and losses.
Intellikine will be a part of Infinity’s existing strategic alliance with Mundipharma International, which has international rights to Infinity’s portfolio for payment of 20% royalties.
Novartis Venture Funds, the corporate venturing division of Switzerland-based Novartis ranked first by Global Corporate Venturing last month, was lead investor in Intellikine’s series B round last year as well as an investor in Infinity in its $70m round in 2002 before the company listed on the Nasdaq stock exchange.
Intellikine said it had drawn down $41m of venture funding in total.
Intellikine raised $51m in July last year in a series B round led by Novartis Bioventures, with Markus Goebel, managing director at the corporate venturing fund, joining its board. Other new investors in the B round were corporate venturing peer Biogen Idec and venture capital firms US Venture Partners and FinTech Global Capital.
The company was started in 2007 with $12.5m from VCs Abingworth, CMEA Capital and Sofinnova Ventures.
