$105M deal: Spark enters into licensing deal with Novartis
By John George, Philadelphia Business Journal

Spark Therapeutics has entered into a deal to license the rights to its new gene therapy treatment Luxturna outside the United States for $105 million upfront, and the potential to earn another $65 million in milestone payments.

Philadelphia-based Spark (NASDAQ: ONCE) signed the deal with Novartis (NYSE: NVS). Luxturna was approved by the Food and Drug Administration last month as a one-time treatment for a type of inherited retinal disorder that causes blindness.

Under the agreement, Philadelphia-based Spark will retain regulatory responsibility for obtaining European Medicines Agency approval for Luxturna. Spark Therapeutics also entered into a separate agreement to manufacture and supply investigational voretigene neparvovec, the treatment it markets in the United States under the brand name Luxturna, to Novartis. Click HERE to read more.

IABCN member, Pat Patterson Buchanan of PMB Marketing, will be participating in Philadelphia Business Journal‘s Mentoring Monday event.

On Feb. 12, women from across Greater Philadelphia will gather at the Crystal Tea Room in Center City Philadelphia’s Wannamaker Building to receive advice from female mentors. Dozens of mentors will participate. They come from a variety of industries and are local business leaders. Click HERE to learn more.

Penn Mutual Makes Capital For Women Founders A Pillar Of Transformation
Moira Vetter , CONTRIBUTOR, Forbes

I spoke to Eileen McDonnell, the Chairman, and CEO of Penn Mutual Life Insurance Company late last year. She talked about her role as a female business leader and the female entrepreneurs her company helps fund through the Alliance of Women Entrepreneurs (AWE) Ventures.

What makes a CEO of a 170-year old company an entrepreneur?

Entrepreneurship is not about the number of years you’ve been in business—it is a frame of mind. It’s why people came up with the term intrapreneur.

Entrepreneurship is a way of being in constant evolution and invention. McDonnell, whose firm in 2017 won an EY Entrepreneur Of The Year® award for regional transformation, fits this definition.

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