Open Innovation

Do we embrace Open Innovation in Pharma R&D? May 29, 2010

Is Big Pharma embracing Open Innovation?  Is there a clear trend in change og business model? Maybe not yet, but increasingly, I see new initiatives and more resources being allocated. Take a look at GSK’s Innovation Site. This is a good examle of how even larger pharma companies is attempting to introduce OI.  I have talked at several meetings on this topic during the last years, and I sense an increasing interest in discusing and learning about how OI could increase pharma innovation and ultimately productivity.

As the hurdle is constantly increasing for requirements to get new drugs approved and also priced in a benefcial way, we find ourselves in a situaiton where new molecles have to be significantly beter and clearly add value (clinical and economical) to patients/society. It is no longer enough to claim “first in class” as the key feature. It is no longer only a question of getting to market as fast as possible. It is a question of adding value to the costumers. And value, which they will accept paying for.

Still, it seems to me, the fundamental path forward for pharma R&D is still rather old-school, linear and driven by traditional thinking.

We will debate this further in Montreux in June, and hopefully we will get some good insights into what is currently happening in the field.