Dive Brief:
- A potential merger between the University of Southern California and Scripps Research Institute in La Jolla, CA, has been scrapped after a month of talks.
- Under the possible partnership, USC would have acquired or entered into an affiliation with Scripps, an independent biomedical powerhouse that houses Nobel Prize-winning scientists, the Los Angeles Times reported.
- Both institutions issued statements declaring that an agreement to discuss a partnership or affiliation had been terminated.
Dive Insight:
Leading faculty at Scripps had gone public with their strong opposition to the possible takeover by USC, arguing that such an arrangement could destroy their independence as researchers. Scripps, which also has a campus in Jupiter, FL, has 2,900 scientists and a 2012 budget of $398 million, funded by the National Institutes of Health and licensing revenues from pharmaceutical companies. USC said the merger talks were scrapped at the request of Scripps. Scripps, which has had some financial problems, said it would continue to explore alternatives for its future, but didn’t say what those alternatives might be.
