Presage eyes drug, diagnostic development with fresh cash from Celgene

Presage Biosciences was started in 2008 to help pharmaceutical companies determine early in drug discovery whether therapeutic candidates would work in specific tumor types, but with cash from its second research collaboration the company will be able to pursue its own drug and diagnostic development aspirations.

Seattle, Washington-based Presage received a $5 million upfront payment and $8 million equity investment from Celgene under a strategic collaboration agreement to identify novel drug combinations to treat solid tumors. The company finalized a similar agreement with Takeda Pharmaceutical's cancer-focused Millennium business unit in April 2012 (scripintelligence