Targeted Genetics Seeks Merger

Targeted Genetics, the Seattle-based gene therapy company that has struggled to survive the past two years, said today it has agreed to merge with London-based Biocontrol. The deal seeks to combine Biocontrol’s science with Targeted Genetics’ technology for using adeno-associated viruses to deliver gene therapies inside cells. The deal must be approved by Biocontrol shareholders.

Author: Luke Timmerman

Luke is an award-winning journalist specializing in life sciences. He has served as national biotechnology editor for Xconomy and national biotechnology reporter for Bloomberg News. Luke got started covering life sciences at The Seattle Times, where he was the lead reporter on an investigation of doctors who leaked confidential information about clinical trials to investors. The story won the Scripps Howard National Journalism Award and several other national prizes. Luke holds a bachelor’s degree in journalism from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, and during the 2005-2006 academic year, he was a Knight Science Journalism Fellow at MIT.