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I have been fortunate to participate in several international conventions of Biotech Partnering. There I have been able to listen and learn what potential international partners are looking for. 

Some frequently asked questions when evaluating a technology:

Is this opportunity to early?

Is this a recycled version of something that already exists?

Is this a drug / treatment that could be manufactured on a large scale at a reasonable cost?

Are the people behind the opportunity trust worthy?

Is this an opportunity where you have a good understanding of how a regulatory agency (FDA for example) would respond or there is no regulatory “experience” about this and we would be the guinea pigs if we decided to develop this drug?

What are the weaknesses of this project? Note: there is no project without weaknesses

Is there a possible treatment for a disease relevant to humans “behind” these data?

Some recommendations for when they enter into discussions with pharmaceutical companies:

Be patient and be persistent. It takes time to find the right people and for them to make a decision. The bigger the company, the more patience and persistence it takes.

Recognize that statistics are against 95% of the opportunities are finally rejected. Pharma companies  are rarely interested in projects they don’t look for. In other words, if a pharma calls you it is very good news.

I know it is very difficult, but you have to avoid spam and generic emails. We must try to make an effort and personalize the communications (especially the technology presentation emails). The worst part is that pharma companies also fall into the temptation of responding with generic and poorly customized messages.

All the pharma companies are hoping to find an absolutely disruptive drug, which generates billions of dollars in sales per year and that has excellent intellectual property protection worldwide. That it is associated with biomarkers (ideally), that it changes the paradigm or the way in which a disease is treated and that it comes with clinical data. This type of project is VERY scarce, and therefore, we all have a hard time trying to present our developments as something so attractive.

If you think you have the “cure” for some type of disease, pharmaceutical and large biotechnology companies will only believe you if you have clinical data of a Phase II trial.