The vision of Life Science Leader is to help facilitate connections and foster collaborations in pharma and med device development to get more life-saving and life-improving therapies to market in an efficient manner. Connect, Collaborate, Contribute
Issue link: https://lifescienceleadermag.epubxp.com/i/320415
LIFESCIENCELEADER.COM 45 JUNE 2014 VISION & GOAL ALIGNMENT Such were the basic assumptions under- lying industry group BayBio's survey — in collaboration with Merrill Datasite, BIO, and FasterCures — to assess the state of "public-private" partnerships and tease out a set of best practices that would guide new partnerships in the future. (See the white paper at baybio.org.) Helped by further input from some key companies, foundations, and people involved in the BayBio survey, each part of this four-part series will illustrate the best practices in one of the following areas: 1 vision and goal alignment 2 resource alignment 3 partnership structure 4 management paradigms. In part one, we examine what happens when the two very different parties, a com- pany and a foundation, come together and establish the basic tenets of their relation- ship. It is a time when the parties must bring their vision and goals for the part- nership into alignment while recognizing and reinforcing each other's interests. Not long ago, the concept of companies and foundations sharing goals and visions was figuratively alien to both sides. Nowadays, functioning public-private partnerships have proliferated in such a variety of forms and fashion, it is impos- sible to draw from all of their experiences in this context. Partnerships range from targeted data-only exchanges to support for proof-of-concept studies to full-scale funding of clinical trials, and often asym- metrical relationships in size, resources, and other aspects between partners. Here, we introduce three industry execu- tives and three foundation leaders, all with extensive experience in multiple public- private partnerships, some in partnerships with each other, and every one concerned enough about best partnering practices to have helped with the BayBio project. Examining the "core sample" these experts represent — further focused by their common involvement in neurode- generative diseases — keeps the picture as simple as possible while suggesting the great variety of possible partnerships. Hopefully, what these experts have to say will pique your interest in life sciences public-private partnerships, whether for further learning or involvement or for implementation of new, successful partnering entities. However, many of them caution that their learnings can't always be transferred wholesale to a different setting. TOWARD A COMMON VISION AND GOAL From the BayBio survey and the words of those quoted below emerge some essen- tial, arguably "best-practice" steps compa- nies and foundations should take to find the right partners, work their way toward a common vision, and establish shared goals — the genesis of a productive and mutually beneficial alliance. RALLY AROUND DEVELOPMENT Foundations deal with complex diseas- es that typically affect patients' lives in many ways. And at any time, scientific progress may open up new mechanisms of action and disease targets that need further exploration and proof-of-concept. Typically, a company and a foundation come together to target development of new interventions in areas where science offers an opportunity and their interests intersect. Amplimmune found a match in Fast Forward, the industry-partner- ing subsidiary of the National Multiple Sclerosis Society, in its early development of a molecule to tame abnormal immune responses. ONE BY ONE, life sciences companies and patient- advocacy groups have been getting together, bound by a common purpose — to ensure development of new treatments for unconquered diseases. Not always an easy marriage, these unions have grown and benefi tted from experience. PART ONE OF A FOUR-PART SERIES: 0 6 1 4 _ B a y b i o 3 . i n d d 2 0614_Baybio3.indd 2 5 / 2 1 / 2 0 1 4 1 2 : 5 9 : 2 5 P M 5/21/2014 12:59:25 PM