Scripps launches initiative to fund early stage projects
The Scripps Research Institute launched Scripps Advance to identify and invest in early stage biomedical research projects. Under the initiative, Scripps Advance will partner with pharmas to select and fund projects from the institute and other academic sources, with the goal of spinning out the programs into single-asset companies. Todd Huffman, president of Scripps Advance, said selected projects will receive amounts "comparable to seed funding." Huffman is also head of new ventures and director of drug discovery partnerships at the institute. He said Scripps Advance does not have a target number of companies with which it is aiming to partner.
Scripps Advance's first pharma partner is the Johnson & Johnson California Innovation Center, part of Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ). J&J said selected projects may be co-funded by Scripps or by other pharmas, and that the collaboration will focus on J&J's areas of strategic interest, including oncology, immunology, neuroscience, cardiovascular/metabolic and infectious disease indications. ...