Great article btw!!

“Greg Wiederrecht: “It’s a matter of scale. It’s impossible for large pharma companies to work in every single sub-therapeutic area out there. In today’s markets, the vast majority of approved drugs are associated with some type of licensing partnership or acquisition component. Even the largest companies can only work on so many targets at once, whereas there are hundreds of thousands of researchers in academia and biotechs out there who can specialize in vastly more diseases. If one of them makes a discovery that satisfies an unmet medical need, then large pharma can form a strategic partnership to provide a jump start on their competitors.”

NB: What exactly does a strategic partnership entail?

GW: “It can be something as minor as a feasibility study, or more significant like a patent license, development commercialization agreement, or even an acquisition. In fact, many acquisitions begin with a collaboration that went so well the pharma wants to acquire the biotech.”

Worth a read.