We get old. There’s no mystery to it. You’re born, you grow up, and then you pass on. But why, and how? And is that process somehow reversible? These are the questions Google hopes to answer with its Calico life sciences company, which just announced a new $1.5 billion research and development center in the San Francisco Bay Area. The new facility will focus on putting resources into drug discovery and early drug development for diseases. If there are better, more efficient ways to stop or prevent illnesses, Calico is going to make sure it finds them.
Google’s Calico biotech company is ready to begin battling age-related diseases — and ready to profit from its drugs and therapies, too. Calico, the independent company led by Genentech chairman Art Levinson in which Google is the main investor, said Wednesday it will join forces with North Chicago-based pharmaceutical company AbbVie to bolster the visions of Calico, which seeks to improve human health and longevity. AbbVie and Calico may co-invest up to $1.5 billion in the venture, and Calico will build a research and development facility in the San Francisco Bay Area where AbbVie and Calico researchers will work side by side developing early-stage drugs and bringing them to market, the companies said. Under the partnership, Calico’s researchers will focus on early drug development and drug discovery, while AbbVie will use its market experience to guide drugs through late-stage development and on a path to consumers. The two companies will split costs and profits evenly. AbbVie and Calico will each initially provide up to $250 million and could contribute an additional $500 million, according to the agreement.