In-licensing Drugs for Personalized Medicine: What You Know, When You Know It

Perlegen says it didn't make sense to do a costly genetic analysis on Mitsubishi's netoglitazone prior to getting rights to the drug. The decision highlights a dilemma for personalized medicine companies pursuing in-licensing, especially those attempting to differentiate a drug from others in its class: How do you assess a drug's potential before you actually have a chance to work with it?

Prior to acquiring a worldwide license to Mitsubishi Pharma Corp. 's MCC-555 (netoglitazone) in April [See Deal], Perlegen Sciences Inc. had not applied its whole-genome-scanning platform to the drug. According to chief corporate development officer Rob Middlebrook, it didn't make sense for Perlegen to do a genetic analysis at its own expense before the company knew it would get rights to the compound.

The decision highlights a dilemma being discussed in boardrooms of personalized medicine companies pursuing in-licensing, including genotypers and systems biology...

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