CAMBRIDGE, Mass.--Millennium Pharmaceuticals Inc. has announced that it will make its bioinformatics services, along with other critical research, technology, and automation functions, available to its newly announced subsidiary, Millennium BioTherapeutics Inc. The new company is charged with developing and commercializing therapeutic proteins, antibody therapy, gene therapy, and antisense products. Eli Lilly & Co. is an 18 percent shareholder in exchange for a $20 million investment, and has entered into a multiyear collaborative with Millennium BioThera peutics for the discovery, development, and commercialization of novel therapeutic protein products.
In conjunction with the launch, Millennium Pharmaceuticals has transferred to Millennium BioTherapeutics certain product development rights.
"Access to Millennium's genetics, computational and bench biology, and diverse disease-research expertise provides Millennium BioTherapeutics with a distinct competitive advantage," commented John Maraganore, vice-president and general manager of the new company. He was previously in management at Biogen.