Articles

With pharma famine looming, Lilly relying on snack-size deals

Compared with some of his pharmaceutical CEO peers these days, John Lechleiter has his company on a diet. Instead of using a mega-merger to bulk up before the famine that patent expirations will bring on the industry next year,
Lechleiter has Eli Lilly and Co. burning management fat while looking for smaller companies to munch on.

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Dow may need to sell Indy’s Dow AgroSciences

Financially strapped Dow Chemical Co. acknowledges it may sell Indianapolis-based Dow AgroSciences LLC, the ag-chemicals-and-biotech
firm that’s one of the biggest jewels in the city’s life sciences crown.

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Advanced energy next focus for economic development

The Central Indiana Corporate Partnership—the parent of the BioCrossroads, TechPoint and Conexus industry cluster initiatives—let it be known last month that there would be a fourth leg to its economic development stool: clean technology.

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Grants will shrink, life sciences leader predicts

Last fall, BioCrossroads named Leonard J. Betley—chairman of the Richard M. Fairbanks Foundation, the Regenstrief Foundation
and the Walther Cancer Foundation—its inaugural Life Sciences Champion of the Year. IBJ recently caught up with Betley to get his thoughts on the latest life sciences developments and gauge the climate
for fund raising.

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Lilly makes $6.5B acquisition

Eli Lilly and Co. CEO John Lechleiter played a game of pharmaceutical poker with former Lilly Chief Financial Officer Jim
Cornelius—and won.

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Firm off to a FAST start: Investors backing company’s kidney assessment technology

FAST Diagnostics quickly is becoming one of the more promising companies in Indiana University’s efforts to commercialize its discoveries. Incorporated in November 2006, it is developing a method to measure kidney function faster and more accurately than existing techniques can. While FAST represents speed, the name actually stands for functional assessment and surveillance technology. The fledgling firm so far has attracted more than $4 million from investors, including $2 million from the state’s 21st Century Fund. BioCrossroads, Rose Hulman Ventures…

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VOICES FROM THE INDUSTRY: Avoid a royalty mess by reviewing your patent license

The U.S. Supreme Court’s recent decision in Quanta Computer v. LG Electronics left LG stuck in “a royalty mess” that should inspire local businesses to review their patent licenses. More specifically, the decision raises important questions about the extent to which-and the cir cumstances under which-patent owners can collect royalties from more than one party in the distribution chain. Although the case arose out of the IT industry, its lessons could significantly impact Indiana life sciences companies. Collecting downstream In…

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IU makes plans to hatch more businesses: Incubator in Bloomington hopes to duplicate success of local Emerging Technologies Center

Ground should be broken late this month or in early November, with completion expected by summer. Cost of the 40,000-square-foot facility-4,000 square feet smaller than the one here-is estimated in the $8 million to $10 million range. While it may be a bit smaller in size, the scope is broader. The new incubator will promote both life sciences companies and information technology firms. That goal differs from the mission of the existing IU Emerging Technologies Center on 10th Street, which…

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Arcadia banking on DailyMed: Company hopes product sales can help it escape debt, lift stock

When Arcadia Resources Inc. moved from Southfield, Mich., to Indianapolis last fall, the Indiana Economic Development Corp. crowed with pride. In exchange for incentives worth more than $6 million, the state had landed the headquarters of a publicly traded life sciences firm with more than 5,000 employees. Even better, the company was ready to launch an innovative new product that promises to improve home health care while simultaneously reducing its cost. A year has passed, but investors still aren’t as…

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ON THE RECORD:

O N T H E R E C O R D First Merchants Corp. of Muncie announced Sept. 3 that it has agreed to buy Lincoln Bancorp of Plainfield for about $75 million. The acquisition expands First Merchants’ presence in the Indianapolis area from the northern suburbs into other fast-growing suburbs on the west and south sides. Announcement of the deal sparked a 37-percent runup in the value of Lincoln shares. Elanco, the animal-health division of Eli Lilly and Co.,…

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