New company Fabrus becomes first occupant of Pfizer's science incubator

The first occupant of The Pfizer Incubator (TPI) - a new development where scientific entrepreneurs progress their ideas towards innovative treatments for serious diseases - has been named as Dr Vaughn Smider, an assistant professor at The Scripps Research Institute, in La Jolla, California.

He will be working to develop a unique technology to identify antibodies that might lead to new therapies, and will build his new company, Fabrus LLC, at the incubator, located at Pfizer's r&d site in La Jolla.

Fabrus plans eventually to employ between six and eight scientists, who will have laboratory and office space in part of the new incubator facility. Fabrus will receive Pfizer support for two years,at the end of which Pfizer has an option to acquire the company and its technologies, or Fabrus may spin out as an independent enterprise.

During the two-year incubation period, Fabrus will work to develop novel antibody libraries, and ways to screen them against biological targets. The technology will be tested on targets in some of Pfizer's 11 disease areas.

"The incubator allows me to focus on science," said Dr Smider. "We won't have to devote time to business complexities, like funding, equipment purchase and payroll. We also benefit from our proximity to Pfizer and its considerable scientific resources."

In total, Pfizer will invest US$10m a year to support life science start-ups based in the incubator. The company continues to review research proposals and expects other occupants to move to the facility in the near future.

"We are helping to fill the need for support and funding for early scientific work. The Incubator is a channel that brings innovation one step closer to patients," said Pfizer's Alex Polinsky, who heads the Incubator. "If successfully developed, Fabrus technology could lead to new therapies in many therapeutic areas."