Thriving in the New Normal

While the supply of venture capital available to our industry has shrunk over the last year, the number of good ideas looking for investment hasn’t. As the market realities have taken hold, new partnering strategies have emerged and are becoming increasingly mainstream.

Business is good for partnering companies, said John Maki, President and CEO of Vicus Therapeutics, who was among the panelists on this morning’s session that focused on growth strategies for bioscience companies. John’s company focuses on finding drugs that already have FDA approval for non-cancer indications that show promise in combating cancer-related indications. In other words, they are repurposing existing drugs to fight cancer. Because all the drugs are already FDA-approved, the product can move to market faster at massive cost savings – and ultimately – the patient gets the life-saving treatment sooner.

A similar business model is shared by fellow panelist Bruce Bloom, President and CSO of Partnership for Cures. His company is looking to raise funds for medical research that can move to market in two years or less. Again, the key here is existing FDA approval.

Juan Harrison, VP of Takeda Research Investment generally oversees a slightly longer timeline. Like the others, his company is looking for complementary therapies. “Nothing sells like the data.” Juan went on to say that they solely look at the science and return on investment is not the top item on his priority list.

Martin Reeves, VP at Cephalon, oversees what may be the fastest partnering timeline of all the panelists. And when I say fast, I mean five-six weeks to move to the partnering phase. The company has a sweet spot for Phase II assets. However, they will vary to differentiate their portfolio. Not surprisingly, they like the potential of blockbusters. In this market, potential therapies that offer only incremental advances just don’t cut it.