Under the agreement, Flagship and Pfizer will each invest $50m upfront to assess opportunities to develop 10 single-asset programmes using the former’s ecosystem of over 40 human health firms and biotechnology platforms
Pfizer and Flagship Pioneering partner for drug discovery. (Credit: Pfizer Inc.)
Pfizer has partnered with venture firm Flagship Pioneering to invest a total of $100m to develop up to 10 new potential drugs for internal medicine, oncology, infectious diseases, and immunology.
According to the terms of the agreement, Flagship and Pfizer will each invest $50m upfront to assess opportunities to develop 10 single-asset programmes.
The partnership is expected to use Flagship’s ecosystem of over 40 human health firms and multiple biotechnology platforms.
Pfizer will finance each chosen development programme and has the option to purchase them.
For each successfully commercialised programme, Flagship and its bioplatform firms will be entitled to receive up to $700m in milestones and royalties. The amount will total up to $7bn if the partnership develops 10 medicines.
Pfizer Development and Medical Worldwide Research chief scientific officer and president Mikael Dolsten said: “At Pfizer, we are expanding our efforts to pursue potential breakthrough science with unique approaches and funding mechanisms designed to leverage the dynamic scientific ecosystem.
“This collaboration is an exciting opportunity for Pfizer to bring deep scientific expertise and apply our development and regulatory strength to Flagship’s diverse portfolio of technology platforms, translating early-stage innovation to potential medicines.”
The exploratory approach will be led by Pioneering Medicines, a Flagship Pioneering programme, in coordination with Pfizer’s research and development leadership to advance rapid potential portfolio development.
The partnership will focus on core strategic areas of interest of the US pharmaceutical major, including large patient populations and diseases with great potential to benefit from a variety of technological platforms and modalities.
Flagship Pioneering executive partner and Pioneering Medicines president Paul Biondi said: “Flagship and Pfizer enter into this strategic alliance driven by a shared sense of urgency to develop novel medicines that make a difference for patients.
“This new partnership brings together the best of our organizations to maximise discovery and development potential from inception to impact through a unique innovation supply chain that sets us on a path to potentially realise transformational medicines more quickly and effectively.”