Avillion announces royalty pharmaceutical investment

Jim Reddoch, PhD, Royalty Pharma Executive Vice President for Research and Investments Joins Avillion Board

Avillion LLP, a company focused on co-development and financing of late-stage pharmaceutical candidates from Phase 3 clinical development through marketing approval, announced that Royalty Pharma has become an investor, joining Abingworth LLP and Clarus Ventures.  Royalty Pharma will be represented on the Avillion Board by Jim Reddoch, PhD, Executive Vice President for Research and Investments at Royalty Pharma.  Dr. Reddoch has been in biotech investment banking and investments for 18 years. Dr. Reddoch has a PhD in biochemistry from the University of Alabama and was a postdoctoral fellow at Yale University.  He is on the External Review Committee of Memorial Sloan-Kettering’s Technology Development Fund.

Avillion Chief Executive Officer, Dr. Allison Jeynes-Ellis, said: “We welcome Royalty Pharma as a key new investor in Avillion. Our goal is to be the co-development partner of choice for companies with promising late-stage clinical programs, and Royalty Pharma brings a highly successful 17-year track record of analysing and investing in these types of assets.  Royalty Pharma’s input will be invaluable as we seek to identify and accelerate the development of promising product development candidates, taking them through Phase 3 clinical development to marketing approval, beginning with Pfizer’s Bosulif® (bosutinib).”

Royalty Pharma CEO Pablo Legorreta said: “We are delighted to be an investor in Avillion, which has developed a unique and innovative model for pharmaceutical co-development.  We are highly impressed with the team that Dr. Jeynes-Ellis has assembled and believe that Avillion’s mission of accelerating clinical trials through best-in-class execution in a focused and capital-efficient fashion will enhance trial outcomes and resonate with both biopharmaceutical partners and patients. Avillion’s focus on oncology and other serious diseases complements our investments in this field, including interests in Rituxan®, Neupogen®/Neulasta®, Thalomid®, Imbruvica®, and Phase 3 funding for vosaroxin.”

Download press release