Deal Early, Less Often: ZymoGenetics' Broad Deal with Serono

The broad research, development and commercialization alliance inked in September between ZymoGenetics Inc. and Serono SA stands out not only for its size and scope--an unlimited number of proteins and up-front equity purchases and license fees totalling $81.25 million--but also because each partner is a biotech company, and the research chores will be shared from the outset.

High-value, early-stage dealmaking is something of an oxymoron in the biopharmaceutical world; very few research collaborations or even preclinical licensing deals sport large up-front payments. The handful that do generally involve attempts by Big Pharma to improve R&D efficiency through outsourcing: the biotech partner in these cases—such as with Abgenix Inc. 's broad October 2003 antibody development deal with AstraZeneca PLC [See Deal] and Exelixis Inc. 's major discovery and development alliance with GlaxoSmithKline PLC [See Deal]—performs the lion's share of the preclinical development.

Thus the broad research, development and commercialization alliance inked in September between ZymoGenetics Inc. and Serono SA stands...

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