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
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33 JULY 2014 LIFESCIENCELEADER.COM RESOURCE ALIGNMENT But this four-part series on the best prac- tices for company-foundation partner- ships, sparked by the large BayBio survey of players on both sides of such collabora- tions, seeks to spread some of the hard- earned knowledge over an even broader field of common interests. In Part One of this series ( June 2014), we examined what happens when two very different parties — a company and a foundation — establish their basic tenets, purpose, and goals in a common vision. In Part Two, we look at how the partners can avoid disruptive shifts and imbalances in their resources when they apply that vision to reality. In addition to BayBio's survey — conduct- ed in collaboration with Merrill Datasite, BIO, and FasterCures — we draw from insights voiced by key people in companies and foundations participating in the sur- vey. The experts represent a "core sample" of industry-foundation collaborations — most focused by their common involve- ment in neurodegenerative diseases. Because industry-foundation partner- ships cover such a wide range — from targeted data-only exchanges, to support for proof-of-concept studies, to full-scale funding of clinical trials — they often form asymmetrical relationships in size and resources. Recognizing the resource gap is the best first step each partner, and both partners together, can take. Although each one may be left alone to work out its own solution, ideally they will work together to align their resources. The foundations that pioneered a shift to industry funding and collaboration strongly believe that support for prod- uct development is the most efficient and effective way to deploy their resources — that is, as long as all the parties involved give due diligence to "de-risking" their relationships. Realistic assessment of each partner's assets, mapping out the development path, monitoring and mea- suring progress against clear milestones, and parallel adjustments to limit risk are the main best practices for ensuring resource alignment, as gleaned from the survey and its participating "voices." COMPLEMENT & LEVERAGE PARTNERS' ASSETS To make any rational use of resources, you must first know what you have, and in a partnership, you must also know what resources the other side can deploy. What does each party bring to the table? How and where can each partner best apply its assets to complement the other's in reaching the common goal? Aligning precious resources along the most efficient path toward the ultimate goal is critical to leveraging them — a valuable lesson employed by one of the first patient foundations to partner with industry. In this case, the first few successes gen- erated enough leverage for the group to expand its industry partnerships many times over. THEORY PLUS APPLICATION yields real-world lessons. When life science companies and patient-advocacy groups come together to ensure development of new treatments for unconquered diseases, they typically draw on each other's experience and inevitably learn some lessons on their own. PART TWO OF A FOUR-PART SERIES: 0 7 1 4 _ B a y b i o _ 2 . i n d d 2 0714_Baybio_2.indd 2 6 / 2 0 / 2 0 1 4 1 2 : 2 7 : 4 1 P M 6/20/2014 12:27:41 PM