Pfizer has its eye on supporting innovation in the biotech industry to support small and medium-sized companies working in indications that fall under Pfizer’s core areas of focus.
With a $500 million investment, Pfizer has its eye on supporting innovation in the biotech industry to support small and medium-sized companies working in indications that fall under Pfizer’s core areas of focus.
This morning, the pharma giant announced the establishment of the Pfizer Breakthrough Growth Initiative. Through this new entity, Pfizer plans to invest up to $500 million in biotechnology companies. Those funds will provide financial support for the development of therapeutics, as well as access to Pfizer’s scientific expertise from its R&D teams. Pfizer said the investments will ensure continuity of the biotechnology companies’ most promising clinical development programs.
Pfizer Chief Business Officer John Young said it was important to establish the fund for collaborations now, as the industry is primed for such a maneuver. As the industry has come together and multiple collaborations have been formed to combat the global pandemic of COVID-19, including Pfizer’s own collaboration with Germany’s BioNTech, Young said there has never been a “more important moment” to foster additional collaborations.
“The Pfizer Breakthrough Growth Initiative seeks to do just this by injecting crucial capital into biotechnology companies that share our commitment to delivering transformative therapies for patients,” Young said in a statement.
The $500 million Growth Initiative will be used to make non-controlling equity investments in clinical-stage public companies. Pfizer said a primary focus will be made on companies with small- to medium-sized market capitalizations across a range of therapeutic categories that are consistent with Pfizer’s core areas of focus: Internal Medicine, Inflammation & Immunology, Oncology, Rare Disease, Vaccines and Hospital. Pfizer said the companies in which it makes investments could have the opportunity to be assisted by its team, as well as with resources in research, clinical development and manufacturing.
Pfizer said the establishment of the growth fund builds on its history of successful collaborations across the industry in order to achieve the “shared goal of turning great science into innovative new medicines.”
In its announcement, Pfizer did not provide information as to when it would begin making investments with this fund, or how the money would be divided up across different investment opportunities. Pfizer did not also provide details on what kind of data a company may have to generate within those core development areas in order to pique the company’s financial support. BioSpace has reached out to Pfizer for additional details on the fund and will provide an update when we receive a response.
