Category: Product Development

Pharma Basics: Portfolio Management

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The pharmaceutical R&D portfolio is usually formed by combining several assets. It can include discovery, pre-clinical and development stage small molecules and biologics (Phase I-IV) or medical devices. Less mature biotech companies, usually own either single project or platform and there is not yet a real R&D portfolio to manage. Large pharma or biotech organizations have actual and sometimes complex portfolios with numerous projects at various stages of development. Decisions around portfolio such as selection of the drug candidates, portfolio prioritization, and optimization are the most critical areas driving a total shareholder value for the organization. The portfolio management is a dynamic process and methodologies used vary among companies. The size of the company and portfolio dictates the complexity and work intensity of the portfolio management. Relevant decisions are made according to a predetermined process and by evaluating multiple parameters. Some of the portfolio management components may be outsourced if there is a need for it. Final accountability for the portfolio decisions stays with the R&D executive team and board of directors. Continue reading →

Biotech’s Toughest Love

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Biotech companies are a critical element of the pharmaceutical business, delivering life-saving and quality-of-life improving medicines and medical devices to patients.  They can be considered a beating heart of innovation, filling up many of productivity and innovation gaps at pharmaceutical companies. A broad array of their novel products and discoveries brings hope for patients suffering from previously untreatable conditions and diseases. Small biotech organizations tend to operate with very few experts onboard, prioritizing clinical development and regulatory expenditures to reach their value creation goals: achieving proof-of-concept and obtaining regulatory approval. Historically, commercial aspects were not at the top of the biotech’s priorities. Now, more than ever, biotech needs to get commercial aspects of drug development right. Regulatory approval of the new drug is a significant milestone; however, without commercial/market access & pricing strategy in place, it may lead to a failure further down the road.

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Budget Management in R&D Projects

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Finance is a broad term describing the management of money and other valuables, which can be easily converted into cash to achieve economic objectives of the given organization. The usual structure of the financial department in large, mature pharmaceutical company includes Tax Group (scope: tax declarations & optimization, transfer pricing), Accounting (scope: external reporting, financial data management), Corporate Finance (scope: treasury & capital markets, M&A, investor relations), Controlling (scope: internal reporting, budgeting & planning, business valuation), plus potentially additional groups. Continue reading →

Creation of Drug Development Plan

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Drug development can be described as the process of obtaining the relevant information necessary to be included on your drug prescribing information. Development Plan (DP) is the strategic document that guides the lifecycle of a new product from the pre-clinical lead compound stage through Lifecycle Management (LCM). LCM starts with the first approval of BLA/NDA (first Marketing Authorization) and encompasses development of new indications. In mature pharma organization, DP is approved by the governance bodies. Once approved, it can be regarded as the agreement between executive leadership/board of directors and the program team involved in the discovery, development & commercialization of the product. The DP is a living document and should be amended when the development strategy changes. Continue reading →

Loss of Exclusivity & Preservation of Product Value

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My previous post “Patent & Regulatory Exclusivity in Pharma R&D” I have indicated that the pharmaceutical company holding the original pharmaceutical product patent may attempt to fight the loss of exclusivity (LOE). The same article already covered the R&D aspects of the patent and regulatory exclusivity protection, leaving the commercial side to further analysis.

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Patent & Regulatory Exclusivity in Pharma R&D

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When one thinks about the role of the patent attorneys, it may not be obvious how paramount are they for the life science industry. Do we perceive them as the pharma’s secret agents on an ongoing, critical mission? If not, we should. They work behind the research and development scene, making sure the company can maximize the value of the drug candidates and related inventions. This article, in the form of Q&A, covers the patent and regulatory exclusivity topics in biopharmaceutical R&D. Continue reading →

Getting Pre-Candidate Drug to First IND

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The 2016 analysis by the Tufts Center for the Study of Drug Development estimated the average cost to develop and gain marketing approval for a new drug is ~ $2.87 bln. Drug development is not only costly; it is a lengthy, laborious and usually, sequential process. Discovery phase can take 2-10 years. A drug discovery projects initiate because there is a disease or clinical condition without suitable medical products available and it is this unmet clinical need which is the underlying driving motivation for the project. Continue reading →

Investing and Partnering in Drug Development

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During my career, I have been on the both sides of the financial partnership table. I have led ‘due diligence’ process together with my drug & business development teams at pharma. Currently, I represent the third party capital providers assessing development risks for various pharmaceutical assets.  Since this is an area of interest for many of my blog readers, this article will explain the basics of the investments and partnerships models for pharma and biotech companies. Considering that there are fundamental differences between the pharma and biotech organizations and how they manage their portfolio strategies, the article is split into two parts:

  • Part 1 will cover the basics of the large pharma partnering models with third-party capital providers
  • Part 2 will focus on partnering models for different types of biotech companies

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Risk Management in Drug Development

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Risk Management is the continuous process of identifying, analyzing and responding to risk factors throughout the life of a project. The risk management starts at the beginning of the project and continues throughout the life of the project. At each stage of the project’s life, new risks will be identified, quantified and managed. Proper risk management is proactive rather than reactive and reduces the likelihood of an event occurring and the magnitude of its impact. Reactive risk management is often called as crisis management. The right balance in risk contingency is necessary; too much may make the project uncompetitive; too little contingency increases the chance of failure. Risk management is a responsibility of the project team and is driven by the project manager. In short, risk management is about anticipating uncertain events that are inherent to a project to optimize them for project success. Continue reading →