BioCentury
ARTICLE | Finance

Gladstone adds for profit

Why Gladstone started a for-profit arm

August 20, 2015 7:00 AM UTC

The not-for-profit Gladstone Institutes is expanding its deal capacity by creating Cure Network Ventures Inc., a wholly owned for-profit company within its walls aimed at attracting funding organizations and industry partners. While Gladstone sees the move as a way to tap into venture philanthropy to advance projects too risky for pharmas and too early for VCs, other academic organizations see more problems than solutions in taking the for-profit route.

Stephen Freedman, Gladstone's VP for corporate liaison and ventures, said that although it is rare among U.S.-based research institutes, having a for-profit entity opens doors for funding, and consequently should allow more of its projects to move forward than the current setup...