Locust Walk Partners Update

Dear Friends & Colleagues:

We wanted to take the opportunity to update you on our continued progress in establishing Locust Walk Partners as the preeminent life science advisory firm that provides business development, corporate development and strategic / commercial consulting services to it clients:

  • In September, our client Concordia Pharmaceuticals announced a licensing transaction with Ono Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd. for salirasib, a first-in-class, direct RAS antagonist in Phase 2 development for the treatment of solid tumors. Locust Walk Partners served as an advisor to Concordia in this transaction. (For further information, please see http://www.concordiapharma.com.)

  • Earlier this month, our client Synthetic Genomics Inc. (SGI) announced that it and the J. Craig Venter Institute had formed a new company, Synthetic Genomics Vaccines Inc. (SGVI), to develop next generation vaccines. Concurrently, the company announced that SGVI had entered into a three-year collaboration with Novartis to apply synthetic genomics tools and technologies to accelerate the production of the influenza seed strains required for vaccine manufacturing. This agreement, which was supported by an award from the U.S. Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA), could ultimately lead to a more effective response to seasonal and pandemic flu outbreaks. Locust Walk Partners served as an advisor to SGI in the transaction to form SGVI and the structure of the agreement with Novartis. (For further information, please see http://www.syntheticgenomics.com/media/press/100710.html.)

  • In May, we added biopharmaceutical industry veteran John Kollins (San Francisco) to our team as a Managing Director and established a west coast presence. John brings to Locust Walk Partners and its clients more than twenty years of biopharmaceutical industry experience in general management, business / corporate development, and new product roles, as well as an extensive and diverse transaction experience. For further information, please see http://www.locustwalkpartners.com/team_kollinsbio.htm.)

We have posted case studies describing recent engagements on the Locust Walk Partners here.

We look forward to keeping you apprised of our progress and helping our clients achieve critical business objectives.

With best regards

,Jay, Geoff & John