The firms hope academic research can yield first-in-class therapies and spinout companies. Also, Yale unveils research alliances with three biotechs.

The Dealmaking column is a survey of recent transactions, including strategic alliances, mergers & acquisitions, and financings, in the life sciences industries. Deals are listed by the following industry sectors: in vitro diagnostics, medical devices, pharmaceuticals, and research/analytical instrumentation and reagents. All transactions are excerpted from Elsevier's Strategic Transactions database, providing comprehensive transaction coverage from 1991 to the present.

Enterome will use its metagenomics platform to develop drugs that target the effects of alterations in the microbiota, and to identify, develop and commercialize biomarkers. The company's biomarkers will be used to develop diagnostics, and to stratify populations, identifying those most likely to respond to treatment. Enterome is focused on metabolic and bowel diseases, with lead projects in nonalcoholic steatohepatitis and in inflammatory bowel disease.

Cenix is equipped to do high-throughput, genome-scale RNAi screening. The firm believes that its infrastructure and expertise will allow it to help Big pharma and biotech partners sort through masses of targets to find those with biological relevance. Management believes its methodology can also contribute to drug development--RNAi could, for instance, act as a modifier in screening assays, to see whether this additional means of silencing a gene could improve a drug candidate's activity.