We are delighted to reveal that the IPLS, the umbrella organisation for all PLG/HLG groups across Europe and Canada, is launching a new IPLS Community Platform, to replace the previous IPLS database.
This is a unique resource that will enable Swiss HLG members to reach out to fellow members, as well as members of other IPLS national groups such as the UK PLG. It is a completely private platform with exciting modern functionality, including a newsfeed and discussion forums. Access to the platform is a significant benefit of Swiss HLG membership. Together with the UK PLG, we are pioneers in adopting the new system and other groups will come on board over the summer. The official launch will be at the IPLS conference on September 16-18 in Malaga.
We have some exciting news: Join is for our annual after work networking event in Swiss Romandie in collaboration with Biopôle Lausanne and BioAlps - Swiss Health Valley on October 3rd at Biopôle in Lausanne.
There will be a panel presentation on Negotiations: Aligning stakeholders for success and a discussion with representatives from start-up, academia, pharma and venture capital followed by a networking apero.
The Swiss HLG 23rd annual conference will be held on 25th - 27th May 2025 once again at the historic Belle Epoque Grand Hotel Suisse Majestic in the beautiful scenic location of Montreux, Switzerland.
Swiss HLG Start-Up Initiative workshop on June 12
We held the second Swiss HLG Start-Up Initiative workshop on June 12, kindly hosted by Johnson & Johnson at their new campus in Allschwil.
This initiative is a collaboration between Swiss HLG, BaseLaunch and Johnson & Johnson and aims to help 30 great biotech start-ups get Fit for Partnering through a series of four linked workshops.
It was a fantastic event with a great atmosphere and we are keenly looking forward to the next workshop in September, which will dive into partnering and term sheet negotiations.
Great honour to have Christian Mauriand, speaking at our recent conference
It was a great honour to have Christian Mauriand, MBA, Global Head of Development at Roivant Sciences speaking at our recent conference in Montreux on ¨How to build a multi-billion dollar biotech through partnering, an introduction to Roivant Sciences¨.
Christian described how Roivant was built entirely through dealmaking into a commercial stage company with over $8bio market cap, 900 employees, 6 late stage studies ongoing and which has delivered 6 FDA approvals and 10 consecutive positive Phase 3 studies. Wow!
Some of the key principles behind this very impressive track record include that smaller, therapy area focused organisations (¨vants¨) are best, it's helpful to align incentives (e.g. giving executives equity in ¨vants¨), a rigorous focus on value, recruiting top talent from within and beyond biopharma, and deploying data and technology in all business areas.
Christian described how Roivant was able to achieve rapid operational acceleration and to share infrastructure and learnings as well as data and tech to deliver successful Phase 3 studies faster and at lower cost than rivals. Having a stable majority shareholder investing through the balance sheet also helped.
Roivant is therapy area agnostic and very independent in its thinking, looking the other way to the pack. Dealmaking involves rigorous scrutiny and always includes a thesis on why not to do a deal as well as on why to do it. Roivant takes a proactive interest in specific fields and targets and watches certain programs - always a sign of excellent dealmaking.
In particular, Roivant had liked the TL1A target for some time and Pfizer's program in particular, but it always seemed core to their pipeline. When Pfizer acquired Arena with another program in a similar area, Roivant quickly realised that the whole context for outlicensing had changed and swooped in with a creative solution. Impressed by how quickly Roivant could move the program vs the competition in inflammatory bowel diseases, Roche then acquired Telavant for $7bio. A perfect example of how consummate dealmaking can unlock the potential of stalled assets for the benefit of patients.
We are very grateful to Christian for sharing such valuable insights on Roivant's inspiring and amazing journey. If you sadly missed his talk at our conference, he will give a reprise at the International Partnering in Lifescience Society (IPLS) conference in Malaga on September 16th-18th.
Please save the date for our 2025 conference - May 25th-27th back in beautiful Montreux!
Inspiring to have Matthias Steger, speaking at our recent conference in Montreux
It was very inspiring to have Matthias Steger PhD, MBA, CEO of Endogena Therapeutics, Inc. speaking at our recent conference in Montreux on ¨Endogena Therapeutics – a novel drug discovery & development paradigm¨.
Mats described how starting in 2016 he built a unique phenotypic drug discovery platform from scratch, focused on using AI and machine learning to find novel small molecules that restore stem cell function. Over 7 years later, Endogena now has two clinical programs in opthalmology and Mats argues that a phenotypic approach can deliver higher translational success. Agents can also offer wider applicability than therapies targeting specific genetic deficits.
Mats faced a lot of scepticism and had to address every proof point sequentially. Initially peopole did not believe that retinal stem cells were present, then that they could be activated, and then that they would migrate to where they were needed. Careful diligent experiments dismantled each of the objections in turn, gradually unlocking further funding and partnering interest. All of this has resulted in groundbreaking publications.
It was very moving to hear how Mats was motivated on his journey by a friend facing blindness from retinitis pigmentosa. We wish Mats every success in this amazing journey. https://endogena.com/
Please look out for the ¨save the date¨ announcement for our 2025 conference!
Great honour to have Michael Chiusolo, speaking at our recent conference
It was a great honour to have Michael Chiusolo, Executive Director & Commercial Women's Health Portfolio Lead at Organon speaking at our recent conference in Montreux on ¨Empowering women’s health: Creating a winning business strategy¨.
Organon spun out of Merck & Co in June 2021 with the women’s health, established brands and biosimilars portfolios. The women’s health business started with no development pipeline and therefore business development was essential to build the franchise. Michael shared valuable insights based on nearly 10 subsequent transactions. The guidance was to invest effort in crafting a very well thought through and detailed strategy, ensuring full alignment of stakeholders across functions. It's important to pursue a deliberate, disciplined strategy, but if an opportunistic deal perfectly fits your footprint then to look at it seriously – ¨80% strategy, 20% opportunism¨. It helps to be crystal clear on what you can’t do to save wasted effort, e.g. due diligence on software offerings. While being laser focused on strategy, it’s important to be flexible on execution, and open to a variety of deal structures. Opportunism can be used to evolve strategy over time.
Press Release: Swiss HLG Conference 2024
¨BACK TO DEALMAKING!¨
Basel, May 30th, 2024. The Swiss Healthcare Licensing Group (Swiss HLG), a non-profit association of Business Development and Licensing professionals, held its annual flagship conference in a beautiful setting in Montreux.
Over two and a half days, nearly 100 delegates from Switzerland, Europe, the UK, the US and Asia gathered by Lake Geneva to explore and discuss the topic ¨Back to Dealmaking!¨
The conference opened with a Key Note speech from Avaleigh Milne, the Global head of Business Development Strategy & Practice at Roche, who shared her thoughts on how venture capital, biotech and pharma are all essential players in the biopharma ecosystem, helping to sustain a continued flow of innovation for patients.
The second Key Note speech from Ed Saltzman, Senior Strategic Advisor at Lumanity, asked whether it is time to rethink biopharma dealmaking. Ed is well known for his provocative and insightful talks and this was certainly no exception. He provided a sobering analysis of the large number of biotechs seeking partnerships for late stage clinical assets, and pointed out that their chance of obtaining reulatory approval is actually far higher than of securing a pharma deal. The conclusion was that companies need to start planning early for what is needed to successfully commercialise themselves – and doing this work may well actually increase their chance of finding a partner. The link to Ed’s presentation is given below.
Over the following two days, leading experts from the healthcare industry presented on three main themes and gave very interesting perspectives for the future.
The first session explored whether dealmaking should be strategic or more opportunistic. We learned from three fascinating and different case studies. Organon was spun out of Merck & Co with no development pipeline in women’s health, so business development was essential to build the franchise. We heard how this was achieved through a thoughtful, deliberate strategy, while still leaving space for some opportunism. We then heard from Endogena Therapeutics about the very different approach of building a portfolio organically based on a propietary platform technology and how fundraising and partnering evolves as each technology proof point is delivered. The session finished with valuable insights into the unique Roivant business model and learned some of the secrets behind its tremendous success.
The lens then shifted to the funding environment. Speakers shared perspectives on the dealmaking landscape in Switzerland and a more global view on how biopharmas structured and funded recent notable M&A transactions. The afternoon finished with a lively panel with a range of venture capital firms sharing perspectives on current and future opportunities and challenges when raising capital.
In the final session delegates heard how artificial intelligence is impacting our industry. The first talk focused specifically on how the Swiss HLG community can leverage artifical intelligence to take their dealmaking to the next level. We then heard from Insilico Medicines and Exscientia about how they are accelerating and improving the actual process of drug discovery with tools such as machine learning, robotics and automation – including robots that can dance!
The conference wrapped up with an insightful Key Note from Thomas Devenyns from McKinsey on whether AI is finally delivering on its promise to improve pharma industry productivity. Thomas emphasised the critical importance of structuring data and fully embedding AI into day to day processes. While there are already quick wins in areas such as document writing, the biggest opportunity is to increase the successful translation of science into new medicines.
The stimulating conference gave participants the opportunity to take full advantage of networking in person while enjoying a beautiful panoramic view of Lake Geneva.
The Swiss HLG Board thanks all presenters as well as the participants for the lively discussions and interactions. Please find below some images from the conference.
We thank our sponsors for their crucial and valued support.
