deCODE Advances into Clinic with Bayer Drug

Executive Summary

deCODE's recent in-licensing deal with Bayer suggests the biotech's population genetics approach could be set to bear fruit. By in-licensing a compound already shown to be safe, deCODE gets to leapfrog time-consuming drug discovery and early development and move straight into Phase II with its first clinical candidate, saving valuable time and money, and validating its discovery approach to pave the way for additional similar deals. But this inexpensive deal was made for an apparently unwanted compound, and predicated on so-far unsubstantiated claims by deCODE about the link between an unnamed target and heart attack.