An Open Innovation Ecosystem for Drug Discovery

Posted by

SELECTBIO

Mike Barnes, Co-Founder, OI Pharma Partners Ltd

Abstract
World-wide pharmaceutical R&D organisations are facing substantial challenges that have prompted many companies to shift emphasis of resources away from internal discovery to in-licensing and late-stage development of clinical assets. The adoption of an “Open Innovation Strategy” is one of the commonest solutions proposed to tackle this change in R&D emphasis. However some companies have clearly struggled to adapt to this new business model and arguably external partners, to make this strategy work, may also be lacking. Here the concept of Open Innovation (OI) will be explored, drawing on successful case studies from the Bioscience and IT sectors. Successful Open Innovation requires an understanding and awareness of the entire innovation ecosystem, including the use of both open access and proprietary data, and where, when and how each component of an OI strategy interacts. However an understanding of the ecosystem is not enough, this knowledge needs to be overlaid with good practices to ensure that the appropriate connections are made and sustained in R&D projects from the start.