Emerging Business Models and Strategies to Accelerate Innovation in the Biopharmaceutical Industry

Abstract

We focus on assessing and addressing the current challenges faced by the companies that comprise the biopharmaceutical industry.  These include: improving productivity in the drug development process while managing many issues arising from partnering across the value chain more effectively; pricing of its products in the face of long, risky, and expensive development cycles; and, regaining the public trust as an industry that reliably and repeatedly delivers value to its constituencies at an affordable cost.  The motivation for this paper is derived from a panel organized for BIO 2016 in San Francisco, organized by the author and the leadership team of the 12th annual entrepreneurship Boot camp held there. The panel discussed “Emerging Issues and Trends in the Business of Biotechnology Entrepreneurship”.  Discussion was held around three topics that are pertinent to accelerating innovation in the industry: emerging business models; applicability of the lean startup model to biopharma; and pricing.  The panel was led and moderated by the author, with participation of Steven Sammut, James Jordan, and Dennis Gross.  Their specific contributions are noted in the text, and their overall contributions to the panel and to this article are gratefully acknowledged.