Small Pharma/Biotech Benefit by Focusing Beyond the Usual Suspects For Licensing And Partnering

Licensing and partnering are central to the growth of pharmaceutical companies, and are particularly critical for emerging companies. On a spectrum that ranges from developing assets in-house to outright asset acquisition, licensing and partnering occupy an intermediate position, and offer the benefit of risk-reward sharing. Majority of small pharma/biotech companies have traditionally been focusing on large pharma companies (usual suspects) in order to commercialize their assets. Evidence suggests that:

• The usual suspects are limited in number
• The usual suspects engage in a relatively small volume of deals
• The usual suspects’ asset attribute requirements for licensing and partnering are relatively very high

Consequently, the probability of forging a successful deal with usual suspects is seldom high. Looking for different segments and tiers of companies is another attractive strategy that is primarily driven by the presence of a large number of 'non-usual suspects' companies. Interestingly, the terms of the deals with the 'non-usual suspects' companies are not materially different from the terms of deals with the usual suspects.

Source:  http://bit.ly/1VWgdoz

Competitive Intelligence in the Pharma/Biotech vs other sectors

Few business practices have had as rapid an uptake as competitive intelligence (CI). Not only the pharma industry but also other industries have witnessed this rapid uptake. Over the years, the applications of CI have grown and matured, and competitive intelligence has gone from a 'nice to have' to a 'must have' function in a multitude of organizations. Some organizations have been early adopters of the practice, most are 'early/late majority' adopters and some have yet to leverage the practice to their benefit. 

From a reductionist perspective, observing the environment, competitors and associated metrics collectively fall under the domain of external analysis which has application in multitude of areas such as due diligence, bench-marking, shaping of strategy and tactics, new product planning, licensing and partnering, forecasting and valuation etc. Leveraging CI for external analyses in order to support decision-making has been an eclectic practice in organizations. Proponents of the context-adaptive and agile decision-making practice seem to be positioning CI as an enterprise-wide initiative applicable in multiple functions. Recently, we addressed the prevalence of CI in different functions in the pharma/biotech sector vis-a-vis other sectors.

Addressing the appropriate market is often one of the key success factors in due diligence, new product planning, opportunity assessment and business plans. Prima facie, everybody likes large market size and significant unmet needs. However, it is vital to focus on the market or segment where the asset will compete in, at least in the first instance.    Case-in-point: Significant excitement about a first-in-class biologic for asthma treatment. While there is high unmet need and asthma market size is large, the first-in-class biologic therapy is unlikely to be the first-line treatment for asthma, primarily for two reasons- a) the medical treatment algorithm might call for much simpler intervention as the first-line of treatment b) price watch dogs may stipulate cost-effective options as the first-line treatment.   Similarly, a novel cancer therapy while it may be groundbreaking but may not become the first line treatment. E.g. the market size for prostate cancer might be huge but a 3rd line treatment entry, would make the market size much smaller, despite significant unmet needs. A good practice is to identify the right market segment, estimate the market size and then address the competitive landscapes in that market/segment.

Best Vendors for Competitive Intelligence services

What is Competitive Intelligence?

Acc to Wikipedia, Competitive intelligence is the action of defining, gathering, analyzing, and distributing intelligence about products, customers, competitors, and any aspect of the environment needed to support executives and managers making strategic decisions for an organization.

Here Are the Best Websites for Gathering Competitive Intelligence

BiopharmaVantage provides up to date competitive intelligence. The company takes pride in providing exceptional quality primary and secondary intelligence enabling clients take informed and smarter decisions.

ProQuest is committed to empowering researchers and librarians around the world.  Its innovative information content and technologies increase the productivity of students, scholars, professionals and the libraries that serve them.

Hoover’s Inc., a subsidiary of The Dun & Bradstreet Corporation, offers proprietary business information through our online platform and integrated workflow solutions.

Fuld + Company is a competitive strategy consultancy that helps clients anticipate competitive activity, see beyond market disruptions, and develop or refine robust business strategies.

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Evaluating Potential Opportunities in Pharmaceutical and Biotechnology Sector

While looking for potential assets and partners, it’s essential to conduct proper life sciences due diligence - investigate asset, company, market position, recent deals, strategy and financials. The research should not only look at the history of the asset/partner but also it should incorporate forward looking intent, strategy, pipeline and the strength and weakness from your point of view as well as from the lens of other key opinion leaders (KOLs).

BiopharmaVantage conducts rigorous research and due diligence. The company collectshigh quality intelligence and insights from a wide range of sources covering both primary and secondary resources. This allows one to assess competitive landscape, evaluate opportunities, assist with licensing/partnering and with organic new product planning, and help make right investment decisions.

Rigorous assessment of the competitive landscape is usually one of the key success factors. Most life sciences competitive intelligence (CI) managers and Healthcare investors benefit by an externalgroup conducting such exercises. Not only such exercises remove the internal bias in decision-making but also provide extensive and 360-degree view of the competition.  Key applications are:

·       Competitive landscapes

·       Opportunity assessment

·       Due diligence

·       Investment decision support

·       Primary competitive intelligence