TELLING THE STORY

A biotech company should talk to prospective partners on a regular basis. Partnership discussions come out of ongoing relationship-building.

Some companies feel that they must develop a product to a certain stage before shopping it around. Their assertion is that they do not want to do a deal too early; they would rather let the program mature and appreciate in value. However, if someone offers to license a program earlier than you expected for less than you would like, you can always say NO. As long as you feel you do not want to part with a specific program, the burden is on the buyer to make an offer you can't refuse.

Management should strive to insulate the company's mission from the agenda of outside parties by negotiating from a position of strength; pursue partners before you absolutely need them just as you would raise capital from investors before you run short of funds.

A company presenting itself confidently might say, "Here are our mission and pipeline. We look forward to hearing about your goals and discussing appropriate opportunities, if any, for collaboration between our companies."

At any given time, a biotech company should have a development timeline plotted out of how each of its programs will progress to an NDA filing. As far as each prospective partner is concerned, the biotech company will meet its objectives with or without their involvement. However, confidence should be more than cosmetic; the company should always have enough cash in its coffers to fund further development of a product if attractive deal terms cannot be reached with a prospective partner.

SHAPING THE STORY

Science must serve the company's business agenda, not the other way around. Through BD discussions, management will learn what other companies are looking for. By appropriately redirecting R&D, management can arm itself with the data and assets that will convince other companies to sign deals. For example, if Pfizer wants to see how your compound performs in a particular animal model before continuing discussions, getting that experiment done should be high on the CSO's list of priorities.