Dive Brief:
- Intrexon said March 10 it has created a spinout, consolidating all of its health-related assets under newly formed Precigen, a wholly owned subsidiary. The biotech said it is accelerating strategic review of structural options related to these assets, putting all health collaborations under this new arm.
- Under the reorganization, former Pfizer executive Geno Germano, who was being groomed for the synthetic biology firm’s CEO position, is stepping down as president — exiting after only 10 months. Given Germano’s departure, billionaire Randal "RJ" Kirk said he will remain chairman and CEO, cancelling plans to transition to Intrexon’s executive chairman.
- "Notably this structural move will have no impact on the programs of our collaborations in health or the pipeline of clinical stage product candidates," Kirk said.
Dive Insight:
Intrexon, with a $2.8 billion market cap, already has several subsidiaries, and some analysts are bullish about its long term opportunity.
Its reorganization — shifting health assets into a new corporate entity and searching for a newcomer to run it — will allow the parent firm to focus on biological engineering programs in the food, energy, environment and consumer sectors outside the bailiwick of Germano, former head of Pfizer’s innovative pharma business.
Germano said he is returning to the pharma/biopharma industry, "where I spent most of my life." He left Pfizer amid its plans to merge with Allergan, a deal that wasn’t finalized. In a statement, Germano said it became clear to him that Kirk "is integral to the day to day operation of this company and that it is therefore appropriate for him to remain in the CEO role for the foreseeable future."
For his part, Kirk said his Germantown, MD.-based company, on the northern outskirts of the Washington, D.C. region, has been exploring potential strategic options for more than a year — prior to Germano’s arrival.
As Intrexon’s collaborators increasingly begin to move into the clinic, he said, "it is apparent that our collection of health assets may be overshadowed by the breadth and complexity of the opportunities the engineering of biology has afforded us."
"We are therefore taking this structural action now to better position us for strategic decisions regarding our health business moving forward," he said.
Gene and cell therapy candidates in areas including oncology, rare diseases, infectious diseases, ophthalmology, and cardiovascular disease using Intrexon’s technology platform are under development or are entering development. Its platform is being used in three clinical trials, and up to 10 Investigational New Drug applications are expected to be filed this year.
Intrexon said its health-related collaborations, to be handled by the new corporate entity Precigen, include exclusive channel and research collaborations, as well as joint ventures. Precigen will also handle the company’s 75% ownership stake in its Xogenex subsidiary, which is developing gene therapies for cardiac disease.
Intrexon said it is conducting an executive search for someone to lead Precigen.