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Therapeutic Area Partnerships: Faster, Earlier and Make Mine Cash

The rising dealmaking value of proof of concept (POC) was the key theme at Windhover's Therapeutic Area Partnerships meeting, (Oct. 24-26, 2007). In 2002 and 2003 companies paid roughly three times the value for Phase III products that they paid for Phase II. Now, candidates at Phase II (a proxy for POC) go for about the same price as Phase III drugs. What’s going on here and what role will Big Pharma and mid-size companies find themselves playing if the trend continues?

The words on everyone’s lips at Windhover’s second annual Therapeutic Area Partnerships meeting, October 24-26, in Philadelphia, were like an incantation. Proof-of-concept. The meeting, focused on licensing in four therapeutic areas (oncology, neurology, cardiovascular and metabolic) and during which the top partnering opportunities in each category were chosen, was nonetheless as much about dealmaking trends—particularly proof-of-concept (POC) as a value-inflection point—as about the specific candidates its participants highlighted.

Not so long ago—when Big Pharma still had the luxury of believing its pipelines were adequate to support their growth—POC...

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