Increasing Pharma Drug Pipeline with Open Innovation

December 10, 2012 By IdeaConnection

pharma and open innovationAn article posted on the Genetic Engineering and Biotechnological News website provides commentary on the pharma industry’s engagement with open innovation.

It features an intriguing observation of Patrick Vallance, president, pharmaceuticals R&D at GlaxoSmithKline. He notes that when R&D costs were spiraling the drug pipeline was small. But today, as budgets are shrinking the pipeline is growing.  Vallance attributes the increase in productivity to pharma companies becoming more outward-facing.

His comments were made at the recent “Open Innovation in Action” Summit at Stevenage Bioscience Catalyst (SBC) in the UK.

Vallance went on to tell the audience that GSK now has 42 discovery performance units (small teams of GSK scientists focused on the discovery of medicines for specific disease areas) that are operating an open innovation strategy.

The conference highlighted a number of open innovation success stories and the advantages of OI in drug discovery such as cost reductions, access to new ideas, and crowd-sourced funding.

Slow Adoption

Attendees were also keen to talk about some of the reasons for its slow adoption in pharma relative to other industries.  Cited reasons included ‘not invented here syndrome’ and intellectual property rights.

Conference panelists emphasized one of the successful methods for overcoming intransigent employee mindset, and that is to reward staff when they deliver projects that have incorporated some element of open innovation.

When it comes to intellectual property, GSK’s Patrick Vallance believes that one of the biggest challenges today is over protection of IP.  He explained that all his company’s 13,500 compound hits against the malaria parasite are in the public domain.

Rewards

According to Clare O’Neill, Ph.D., founder of innovation consultancy, Original Ventures, companies that will reap rewards are those where open innovation is an attitude not a process.

To read the full article click here.


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