French biotech firm Hybrigenics said this week that it has renewed a three-year, $2.4 million research services agreement with an unnamed US life sciences company.
Under the agreement, Hybrigenics will continue to offer its two-hybrid screens and build databases of protein interactions identified through these screens.
The new deal follows an initial three-year agreement that began in 2009. Under the new terms, the annual fee due Hybrigenics has increased from $700,000 to $790,000.
Hybrigenics has an R&D program aimed at developing treatments for diseases including prostate cancer and psoriasis, but the bulk of its revenues come from its fee-for-service protein interaction work, which is housed within its Hybrigenics Services component — a fully owned subsidiary the company created in July 2010. In the first half of 2012, its protein interaction services generated €1.4 million ($1.8 million) of the firm's total €2 million in revenues.
Clients for these services include firms like Pfizer, GlaxoSmithKline, and L'Oreal, as well as academic customers like Harvard and Johns Hopkins University.