Achieving optimal financial and strategic transaction outcomes for small to mid-sized privately funded start-ups

Non-dilutive funding and equity capital are two key reasons why life sciences companies pursue strategic partnerships. In fact alliances are also strong contributors to successful “exits”, whether Mergers and Acquisitions (M&A) (~ 40% of partnerships ultimately resulted in acquisition by the partner) or stand-alone market entry (80% of approved biopharmaceutical products from 2000-2010 had a commercial partner on board)¹. In the current environment, strategic alliances and funding can come from many sources, including the traditional “large pharma” universe – but the question remains: How best for a small management team to gain access to and maximize success with these sources? The focus of this article is to describe how entrepreneurs can leverage external expertise, intermediaries to achieve their near term and longer-term objectives.

Licensing, Partnering, Strategic Alliances and University Relationships

Abstract

The biopharmaceutical industry has been undergoing change for a number of years and that change is accelerating.  Larger pharmaceutical companies are acquiring smaller ones, companies are merging, laboratories are being closed, and the number of scientists performing research in the pharmaceutical industry is declining.  Overall, commercial industry, including the biotechnology industry, is becoming more interested in the benefits of collaboration with research institutions.

Universities are also changing their view of relationships with industry.  Shrinking federal budgets are causing universities to look at other sources of revenue, including collaborations with industry.  Federal and state governments are also looking closely at the benefits of sponsoring university research, and in particular are seeking to accelerate commercialization of university discoveries not only to obtain the benefit of invested research dollars, but also for economic development and job growth.  Universities, and in particular university technology transfer offices, must understand these changes and adapt to them. 

This paper discusses the university/industry relationships, and the particular issues important to universities which shape that interface. 

Journal of Commercial Biotechnology April 2012 Issue Now Available

Special Issue: Biotechnology Entrepreneurship Bootcamp

Journal of Commercial Biotechnology Vol 18, Issue 2 (2012)

Editorial: The Biotechnology Entrepreneurship Boot Camp: From Lectern to Printing Press
Stephen M Sammut, Arthur A Boni
This issue of the Journal of Commercial Biotechnology focuses on the proceedings of the Seventh Annual Biotechnology Entrepreneurship Boot Camp held in conjunction with the Biotechnology Industry Organization (BIO) annual conference in Washington, DC in June, 2011.The Biotechnology Entrepreneurship Boot Camp was launched for the 2005 BIO Industry Organization’s Annual Meeting in Philadelphia…
Full details at the Journal of Commercial Biotechnology

New pradigms in drug R&D: A personal perspective
David C U’Prichard
The Author discusses the recent productivity problems in the pharmaceutical industry, in the context of his 30 year career, and the current responses of the industry driven strongly by disaggregation of the historic R&D model, new fluidites of capital access, and the impacts of genomics and globalization…
Full details at the Journal of Commercial Biotechnology

Project, Product or Company
Arthur Boni
This article focuses on the essentials of building effective, collaborative, team-based organizations. The entrepreneurs and innovators who found and build technology-based organizations comprise out target audience, but most specifically we address the biotechnology and biomedical field.  Two perspectives are provided in the article: 1) advice based on the experiential learning provided by years of experience of building and growing entrepreneurial organizations; and 2) identifying the keys to building effective teams based on some selected the academic or scholarly literature on building effective teams…
Full details at the Journal of Commercial Biotechnology

The Basics of Coverage, Coding, and Reimbursement
Robert Wanerman
The process of commercializing a new item or service in the U.S. health care market involves three distinct but necessary components: coverage, coding, and reimbursement.  This article provides an overview of these processes and the challenges in successfully navigating the course and spotting the particular issues for individual items and services…
Full details at the Journal of Commercial Biotechnology

Transition from the Lab to the Clinic
James G Kenimer, James Ackland
Before considering the specific regulatory requirements and expectations relating to your product it is informative to understand who regulates and why. Full details at the Journal of Commercial Biotechnology

Building Teams in Entrepreneurial Companies
Arthur Boni, Laurie Weingart
This article focuses on the essentials of building effective, collaborative, team-based organizations. The entrepreneurs and innovators who found and build technology-based organizations comprise out target audience, but most specifically we address the biotechnology and biomedical field.  Two perspectives are provided in the article: 1) advice based on the experiential learning provided by years of experience of building and growing entrepreneurial organizations; and 2) identifying the keys to building effective teams based on some selected the academic or scholarly literature on building effective teams…
Full details at the Journal of Commercial Biotechnology

The Pitch to Investors and Partners
Arthur Boni
This article covers the essentials of constructing and delivering a “pitch” of a business opportunity to potential investors or corporate partners.  We advocate constructing an effective pitch first and then using that as a guide to prepare your business plan.  The content of the pitch itself as described herein in effect comprises the elements to be incorporated into a business plan as a more comprehensive documentation of the business…
Full details at the Journal of Commercial Biotechnology

Strategic Engagement of the Science-Business Media
Moira A. Gunn
As surely as the bio-enterprise can benefit from positive media coverage, it cannot thrive in the face of unanswered negative and/or inaccurate media attention. On all counts, the bio-enterprise must be able to strategically engage with the media at every stage in its life cycle. This article describes the global science-business media landscape, including traditional media and emergent social media and information in the online space…
Full details at the Journal of Commercial Biotechnology

Achieving optimal financial and strategic transaction outcomes for small to mid-sized privately funded start-ups
Benjamin P Chen, Christa Nicholas
Non-dilutive funding and equity capital are two key reasons why life sciences companies pursue strategic partnerships…
Full details at the Journal of Commercial Biotechnology

Partnering With the NIH: Now Part of the “Value Proposition” for Start-ups
Steve Ferguson
For many years the United States has led the world in government support for non-military research and development (R&D), especially support for work that directly relates to health and human development.  A focal point for such federal investments to date in biomedical research has been the National Institutes of Health (NIH) along with other government laboratories and university-based research programs…
Full details at the Journal of Commercial Biotechnology

Licensing, Partnering, Strategic Alliances and University Relationships
Wesley Daniel Blakeslee
Abstract The biopharmaceutical industry has been undergoing change for a number of years and that change is accelerating.  Larger pharmaceutical companies are acquiring smaller ones, companies are merging, laboratories are being closed, and the number of scientists performing research in the pharmaceutical industry is declining…
Full details at the Journal of Commercial Biotechnology

What Every Biotech Entrepreneur Needs to Know about VC Due Diligence
Stephen M Sammut
Due diligence, as it applies to venture capital, is actually imprecise. Origins of the term are based in banking case law. Due diligence to the attorney is more of a precise concept. A better term is “homework.” Better indeed, because the burden of this homework weighs far more heavily on the entrepreneur than on the venture capitalist…
Full details at the Journal of Commercial Biotechnology

Valuation Methods in Early-Stage Biotechnology Enterprises: The “Venture Capital Method” at Work
Stephen M. Sammut
Valuation approaches to biotechnology companies by angel investors and venture capitalists often appear to the entrepreneurs to be based on voodoo rather than sound principles of finance. While there may be some truth to that perception, there is actually a very sound, somewhat complex, internal logic to the way private biotechnology companies are valued…
Full details at the Journal of Commercial Biotechnology

The Art of the Cap Table
Ashley John Stevens
This article provides an overview of the impact of raising capital on the equity ownership structure of a biotechnology company. The equity ownership structure as captured in a table of capitalization determines how the fruits of success will be divided between founders, management and investors at an exit event such as an acquisition or initial public offering…
Full details at the Journal of Commercial Biotechnology

For more information, see the Journal of Commercial Biotechnology