Open Innovation and Big Pharma

The PMLive website reported that there has been a major drive towards an open innovation model among big pharma companies, seeking to forge closer ties with small biopharma companies and academic groups in recognition that relying on in-house pharma R&D is no longer enough to remain competitive. For its part, Sanofi recently set up what it calls an Open Innovation Access Platform to pursue what it describes as “borderless innovation” in which it shares risk and benefits with academic or biotech partners. Other drugmakers are adopting similar strategies. AstraZeneca, Johnson & Johnson and GlaxoSmithKline recently set up a new L40m fund to help UK universities translate research findings into new therapies, J&J has set up a network of partnering offices across the company, and GSK runs a drug discovery challenge to try to tease promising new projects in academia out into the open.

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