And the Nominees for IVB 2011 Alliance of the Year Are ...

OK, IN VIVO blog readers, it's time to have your say. We've supplied the nominations but YOU will decide the winners. Once again we've created a special page so you can vote on all three categories in one place. Remember you much click on the "VOTE" button in each individual category--Alliance, M&A, and Exit/Financing--to record your choices.

CLICK HERE to go to the voting booth!

In no particular order, the nominations for In Vivo Blog's 2011 Alliance of the Year are:

Pfizer's CTIs: Pfizer's city-based networks of medical institutions will, in theory, throw up the projects that the pharma giant needs to fuel is biopharmaceutical pipeline. The biggest academic-alliance splash in ... forever? Click here for the deal nomination post.

Lilly/Boehringer: Lilly married its struggling diabetes franchise with what's still only a pipeline at private German group Boehringer Ingelheim -- the year's biggest pharma-pharma alliance and a template for deals to come? Click here for the deal nomination post.

Genentech/Forma: Isn't it about time that biotech alliances began looking more like acquisitions? This deal, which offers the potential of some liquidity for Forma's backers, helps to provide return-without-exit and if successful offers a new path for biotech independence. Click here for the deal nomination post.

Pfizer/Puma: Don't call it a cougar -- the next big cat in Alan Auerbach's menagerie licensed an intriguing cancer asset from Pfizer, raised $60 million, and went public via reverse merger. Click here for the deal nomination post.

Merck/Roche: Long adversaries in the HCV treatment space, Merck and Roche teamed up this year to sell Merck's first-to-market direct antiviral Victrelis as well as test out new HCV therapy combinations. Score one for pragmatism, pharma-pharma pre-commercial cooperation, and frenemies everywhere. Click here for the deal nomination post.

AZ/Healthcore: What's development and regulatory success without the means to convince payors and patients to shell out their cash for your drug? In 2011 we saw a flurry of pharma-payor dealmaking that illustrates industry's awakening to addressing the needs of those who hold the purse strings. Click here for the deal nomination post.

Reata/Abbott: AIM high and vote for the second huge deal between these two companies -- and their second DOTY nomination -- in the past two years. Reata gets $400 million up-front for worldwide co-dev/co-promo rights to its preclinical antioxidant inflammation modulator portfolio. The private company is sitting on at least $850 million in Abbott cash and has set itself up nicely for an independent future. Click hear to read the deal nomination post.