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In 1999, The Cystic Fibrosis Foundation (CFF), frustrated by the slow pace of progress on finding a treatment for the disease, took a big risk and shifted its funding from academic labs to a for-profit drugmaker Vertex. CFF granted around $150 million in exchange for something unusual—a share of the royalties for any treatment Vertex’s research yielded. The research did yield something a highly effective drug called Kalydeco. This drug is quite lucrative as well, in late 2014 CFF sold its royalty rights to an investment company. For $3.3 billion
Fabulous. (h/t @ryanhubbard)