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Flexion: The In-Licensing Advantage of Cheap Proof-of-Concept

 
• By Roger Longman

The founders of Lilly's radical Chorus experiment have left the mother ship to do the extraordinarily fast and inexpensive proof-of-concept development that have made Chorus one of the most interesting models in the industry. The two new entrepreneurs, backed by Versant, hope that their new company, Flexion, will be able to preferentially sign deals for the shelved molecules that a host of in-licensing start-ups have also been seeking.

In 2002, Eli Lilly & Co. began to experiment with a radically new process for clinical development: rapid proof-of-concept (POC). It was by no means the first such experiment in the industry, but Lilly has been the only company to stick with it, institutionalizing the ideas in its quasi-independent Chorus division (See "Lilly’s Chorus Experiment," IN VIVO, May 2007 Also see "Lilly's Chorus Experiment" - In Vivo, 1 May, 2007.).

Now Chorus’ two top executives are going out on their own, setting up a Chorus-style competitor called Flexion Therapeutics Inc.

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