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LIFESCIENCELEADER.COM MARCH 2015 25 But King noted it was also important to align with a company that "couldn't lose our product [Zalviso] in a sea of other products." Though the deal may seem small by Big Pharma standards — $30 million up front and potentially $220 million more in development, regulatory milestones, and rights to Zalviso in Europe and Australia — for a company the size of Grünenthal, this demonstrates not only a very significant commitment, but also a strong willingness to partner in R&D.; YOU CAN S TI LL TINK ER WI TH OPPORT UNI TI ES It should be clear by now that Grünenthal is a pain company, first and foremost, that is seeking opportunities which build upon that competency or are adja- cent to that area. Nevertheless, Langner contends that being strategically oppor- tunistic does not mean being chained to your core. For example, Grünenthal has been in business in Latin America since 1968. About one year ago, the com- pany nearly doubled its revenues in Latin America by acquiring Empresas Andrómaco, a Chilean company. "The acquisition of Empresas Andrómaco enriched and matched our portfolio that already included gynecology and CNS even before the acquisition. We now have more than 400 products — including oral contraceptives — in Latin America." In Europe, however, Grünenthal divest- ed its gynecology business because of generic competition. In other words, don't be so true to your core that you aren't open to tinkering with innovative opportunities. "When evaluating opportunities, the standard approach is to always focus on risk," Langner says. "But don't let risk over- shadow how you assess an opportunity. Yes, you need to be confident that you can develop compounds in areas of opportunity, but you don't necessarily have to do so alone." To help foster this concept, Langner drove for the creation of the company's innovation medicine's unit (IMU). "The purpose of the IMU is to help us establish R&D; entrepreneur- ial networks for assessing early-phase opportunities. We use the IMU to help find people outside our organization who can help with things like clinical profiling or the development of a bio- marker that does not yet exist," he explains. The IMU consists of five people charged with identifying and assessing new late-stage discovery or early-clinical development opportunities from the external innovation community. "In cre- ating the IMU, we wanted to bring a biotech atmosphere to Grünenthal — doing things fast and with a very senior, empowered, decision-making team," he explained. Started in 2014, Langner feels it is still too early to reveal the progress of the IMU. However, he is pleased thus far. "The IMU has been active in helping facilitate collaborations in Europe," he attests. "But we are also quite active in the U.S., interacting with potential part- ners in the San Diego and Boston areas." One of the unique benefits afforded Grünenthal's IMU is the company's geo- graphic location. Located in Aachen, in the western part of Germany, the city places Grünenthal in what is referred to as the North Rhine Westphalia — one of Europe's densest regions for research networks and nonuniversity research centers. "We are closer to the countries of Belgium and the Netherlands than we are to the German cities of Frankfurt or Berlin," Langner says. "We are at the heart of an entrepreneurial enabling ecosystem." As Langner and I conclude our discus- sion and ready ourselves for our next meetings, I am struck by an American saying made famous by Mark Twain, "Actions speak louder than words." Interestingly enough, the saying is very close to the German proverb, "Taten sagen mehr als Worte," which translates to, "Actions say more than words." More than Langner's words, it is Grünenthal's actions which bode well for this midsize company's entrepreneurial, networked, and partnered R&D; future. L