An analysis of 387 public-private partnerships (including research institutes) in 2012 shows cancer (70 deals) and infectious disease (64) as major areas of interest, as well as diagnostics/pharmacogenetics (68) (Fig. 1). Harvard University and the University of Texas system top the list of universities with the most industry deals, and University College London lands ahead of the University of Oxford and the University of Cambridge (Table 1). Gene-editing pioneer Horizon Discovery (Cambridge, UK) notably closed five academic deals last year, which was more than several big pharma companies (Fig. 2).

Figure 1
figure 1

Number of deals by business area 2012

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Table 1 Academic-private partnerships 2012
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Figure 2
figure 2

Most active pharma

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