And the Nominees for IVB 2011 Exit/Financing 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 Exit/Financing of the Year are:

Ascletis: One of the largest Series A rounds ever in biopharma -- $50 million in the first tranche, with another $50 million guaranteed to follow when the company hits certain milestones -- and a serious nod toward the growth of China on the global biopharma stage. Click here for the deal nomination post.

BMS/Amira: This $325 million buyout was a great return for Amira's backers and the result of an interesting structure that sees former Amira assets seeding a handful of newco's. Click here for the deal nomination post.

Radius Pharma: The twin moves that garnered Radius a DOTY nomination came on the heels of what might become a frequent occurrence in the option-heavy dealmaking world we live in: partner Novartis declined to pursue the company's Phase III ready osteoporosis compound. To go it alone, Radius nailed down a $91 million cash-and-debt Series C and floated its shares via reverse merger with a public shell company. Click here for the deal nomination post.

Eisai/SFJ: In a move that gives it greater development bandwidth, Eisai is handing the bill for Phase III studies of its thyroid cancer treatment lenvatinib to SFJ. Eisai will pay milestones to SFJ only if lenvatinib gains regulatory approval, and Eisai itself conducts the global trials and also keeps all commercial rights. . Click here for the deal nomination post.

Quanticel: This Stanford-grown genomic analysis company's emergence illustrates an important trend in biotech financing: linking investment to exit, even if that means ruling out a home-run return. Quanticel, backed by Versant Ventures, took in $45 million from Celgene for rights to its platform for three and a half years and an exclusive option to buy the company. Click here for the deal nomination post.

Arteaus: Asset financing as a concept isn't quite new, but 2011 saw several venture investors build out the asset-centric model in a way that's uniquely suited for these capital-constrained times. Arteaus is the first asset-financing play out of Atlas Venture's Atlas Venture Development Corp. The molecule in question, a migraine drug candidate, has Lilly roots and potentially a Lilly future, as that Big Pharma has lined up an option to reacquire the asset from Atlas. Click here for the deal nomination post.