Novartis/Peptimmune – Top 10 biotech deal terminations of 2011

Posted under Blog, Companies, Diagnostics, Funding, Medical Devices, Medical Supply, Novartis, Peptimmune, Pharmaceuticals, Startups, Universities, Videos by John Carroll

Partners: Novartis/Peptimmune
Based: $NVS - Basel, Switzerland; Peptimmune - Cambridge, MA
Termination date: March 2011
Length: 2.2 years
Deal: $500 million
Program: The then Phase I PI-2301 for multiple sclerosis

What went wrong: Novartis optioned the rights to the license at the beginning of 2009, but a little more than two years later, Peptimmune wound up in a world of financial hurt and had to file for bankruptcy liquidation in March.

Backed by New Enterprise Associates and MPM Capital early on, Peptimmune couldn't close a deal on a $35 million round needed to keep the doors open. By that time its 50-person staff had dwindled to a skeleton crew of 5. Out of the shambles, though, came a great opportunity. Merck Serono recently stepped in to buy the rights to PI-2301 for a mere $1.5 million, only $498.5 million less than the potential value Novartis had once glimpsed.

That has to rank as one of the best deals of 2011.