Calling pharma's bluff

Not satisfied with partnership offers for ITCA 650, Intarcia Therapeutics Inc. raised $210 million last week from investors who bought into the potential of the company's once-yearly GLP-1 product. The money will pay for a Phase III program in Type II diabetes and leave Intarcia better positioned to revisit negotiations with prospective commercial partners in 2014.

In December, Intarcia took an important step toward moving ITCA 650 into Phase III testing by finalizing a deal with Quintiles Transnational Corp. in which the CRO became both a financial and a development partner on the program (see BioCentury, Jan. 9)...