Forma Therapeutics Announces $200 mn Collaboration Deal with Novartis
Filed under: Americas, Biotech, Capital Markets, Europe, Finance, JVs, M&A, Pharma
CAMBRIDGE, Mass. Jan 12, 2009 — FORMA Therapeutics announced today that it has entered into a license and option agreement through the Novartis Option Fund. Under the terms of the agreement, FORMA will leverage its transformative biology and chemistry platform to develop inhibitors for an undisclosed protein-protein interaction target in the field of oncology. The agreement includes an upfront fee and potential milestones totaling over $200 million as well as royalties.
“Protein-protein interactions represent important target opportunities in the field of oncology drug discovery, but have been highly elusive to date,” stated Reinhard Ambros, Head of the Novartis Venture Funds. “Novartis is very excited to be collaborating with FORMA to access their biology and chemistry expertise and powerful discovery tools to unlock this challenging target class.” Read more
Ericsson ties with Swisscom for WCDMA/HSPA network for high-speed mobile broadband coverage in Switzerland
Filed under: Communications, Europe, Internet, JVs, Mobile
Ericsson (NASDAQ: ERIC) has signed a frame agreement with leading Swiss operator Swisscom to expand and upgrade its WCDMA/HSPA network to enable high-speed mobile broadband coverage across 90 percent of Switzerland.
As key supplier to Swisscom, Ericsson will provide an HSPA (High-Speed Packet Access) solution that will upgrade the operator’s network to enable peak speeds of up to 7.2Mbps on the downlink – the maximum speed that commercial HSPA subscriber devices currently allow.
This agreement also expands on Swisscom’s initial HSPA launch in February 2006, making uplink speeds of up to 1.4Mbps available across 90 percent of the country.
The contract will underpin the widespread availability of mobile broadband services across Switzerland and support subscriber access to a host of innovative services. The service was announced by Swisscom in November 2007. Rollout has started and is due for completion in the second quarter of 2008.
Patrice Haldemann, Network & IT, Head of Operations Swisscom says: “Ericsson’s solution allows us to boost network capacity and extend our leadership in mobile broadband availability across the country, offering customers seamless access to our range of broadband services.”
Richard Batistier, Account Manager at Ericsson says: “This contract marks an important milestone in our long-standing partnership with Swisscom and will extend high-speed mobile broadband throughout the country, supporting access from almost any device and nearly any location.”
Ericsson’s HSPA technology supports downlink speeds of up to 14.4Mbps. It significantly increases operators’ network capacity and provides subscribers with a superior user experience.
Notes to the editor:
Press backgrounder for HSPA and 3G reference list:
www.ericsson.com/ericsson/press/facts_figures/doc/hspa_lte.pdf
www.ericsson.com/ericsson/press/facts_figures/3g_reference.shtml
Ericsson is shaping the future of Mobile and Broadband Internet communications through its continuous technology leadership. Providing innovative solutions in more than 140 countries, Ericsson is helping to create the most powerful communication companies in the world.
Read more at www.ericsson.com
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION, PLEASE CONTACT
Ericsson Media Relations
Phone: +46 8 719 69 92
E-mail: press.relations@ericsson.com
About Ericsson’s HSPA solution
HSPA stands for High-Speed Packet Access. An inherent advantage of HSPA is that the technology is a natural extension of existing WCDMA/GSM networks, or about 85 percent of the world’s existing wireless networks, and therefore has the potential to be readily available to a large number of wireless users, creating a mass market for mobile broadband. By 2010, 71 percent of mobile broadband connections are projected to be HSPA-based.
Ericsson’s HSPA mobile broadband solution, part of Ericsson’s Full Service Broadband offering, today enables download speeds of up to 14.4Mbps and upload speeds of 1.4Mbps. The advanced technology lets operators more than double their system capacity and cuts response times for interactive services. On average, users will be able to download 20 times faster than with a GSM/GPRS connection. Future evolution steps will increase the HSPA download speed to 42Mbps and the upload speed to 12Mbps. Ericsson offers HSPA support on many frequency bands ranging from 850MHz to 2.6GHz.