Dec. 12, 2012: The In Vivo Blog 2012 Nominee: Alliance Deal of the Year: Versant/Roche/Inception 3
Excerpt...
Instead of drug hunting first and finding a partner or buyer later, Inception found a hunting partner in Roche, which wanted to go after hearing loss but didn’t have the internal capabilities or resources to devote to this very new therapeutic area -- new, at least, for drugs. In turn they formed Inception 3 based on technology from Stanford University. Versant provided equity funding, and Roche has added funding that gives it an option to acquire Inception 3 upon filing of its first IND. Ozawa declined to give a development timeline. The partners will be looking for small molecule therapies to address sensorineural hearing loss, which is all too common, permanent, and afflicting more and more people in the age of the iPod.
Oct. 10, 2012: Press Release
Roche Announces Alliance to Discover Novel Treatments for Sensorineural Hearing Loss
Roche (SIX: RO, ROG; OTCQX: RHHBY) announced today that it has entered into an exclusive partnership with Versant Ventures and Inception Sciences to create a drug discovery incubator, Inception 3, for the treatment of sensorineural hearing loss.
Nov. 29, 2011: Fresh Off Amira Success, Versant’s Bolzon and San Diego’s Prasit Begin Anew with Inception. See Xconomy.com.
July 27, 2011: Versant Supports Biotech Incubator From Amira Co-Founder. See Venture Capital Dispatch for full article
