The Top CEE biotech licensing opportunities
Date: 29.10.2012
Pharmaceutical companies are looking for sources of new products and technologies in biotechnology industry to extend the existing pipeline. The major objectives of pharmaceutical and biotechnology businesses are to be the first on the market with new therapeutic entities, achieve maximum market penetration, be assured of freedom to operate, and create barriers to competition.
On the other hand there is challenge for small biotech companies to develop and commercialize products because of the cost of drug development (including clinical research), the time and high infrastructure costs. To satisfy both sites licensing is one of the solutions. While for Big Pharma industry licensing is source of innovation, for the biotech industry - is the source of funds. Licensing, with its flexibility and inclusion of provisions pertaining to improvements and patents, is uniquely suited to facilitate biotechnology transfers.
Biotechnological inventions are characterized by their broad application and high innovation potential as they can be implemented in a variety of products across different industries, e.g. pharmaceutical, agriculture, food, or environmental protection, and meet the primary needs of society, e.g. in the therapeutic sector. These promising marketing perspectives are an incentive for investors when evaluating a business partnership with the owner of biotechnological intellectual property. At the same time, business partners must travel a long and risky path to turn a first genetic research result or discovery into a registered and marketable product. In addition, as improvements in biotechnology occur at a rapid pace, it seems important to establish long-term business partnerships, which comprise the second and third product generations.
Licensing agreements are the most flexible type of business partnership between investors and biotechnology research units as they can be structured according to their individual cooperation scheme, taking into account their development and commercialization capacities and interests. The licensee may have expertise in commercializing biotechnology and follow an investment strategy that provides the resources necessary to develop the basic biotechnology into a registered and saleable product (source: “Innovaccess”, “Iptechex”).
More and more Big Pharma companies are looking new source of technologies in an emerging market – Central and Eastern Europe, which is starting to be recognizable as a bioinnovation region.
Due to the above market needs the Organizer of 12th edition of BioForum will arrange the satellite panel “The Top CEE biotech licencing offer” (21st May, 2013). This panel gathers SMEs from Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) developing new biotech drugs and/or small molecules. Business model of such companies is to develop a portfolio of projects led to the proof of concept level/preclinical studies for licencing to Big Pharma.
The Bio-Tech Consulting team will select the best 8 to 10 CEE biotech companies from the Life Science sector to present on BioForum 2013 their ready to license projects. The projects will be presented by CSO(s) or CEO(s) of the chosen companies from CEE region.
This satellite panel will be viewed by ‘Big Pharma’ top decision making executives responsible for licensing deals.
BioForum - Central European Forum of Biotechnology & Innovative BioEconomy and the accompanying events will take place on 22-23rd May 2013 in Budapest. The originator and the main organizer of this event is a polish company: Bio?Tech Consulting (www.biotechconsulting.eu).
Author: Edyta Wodzinska
More on: www.cebioforum.com
