Wisdom and Wagers: Perspectives from Big Pharma Dealmakers

Dealmaking at top pharmaceutical companies is about more than identifying strong science and digging into deep pockets. Instead, balancing patient interests, corporate strategies, financial returns, and risk management is a complex exercise.

Business development (BD) leaders from large pharma companies maintain interest in various deal types. For example, Michelle Li of Merck & Co explained that her Corporate Development and Commercial BD team has interests in everything from early-stage discovery transactions to late-stage clinical collaborations and large-scale M&A opportunities. Rahul Jerath of AbbVie agreed, describing his company’s BD coverage as a ‘soup to nuts’ approach with discovery and pre-clinical deals sitting alongside wholesale mergers.

Deals are struck when top pharma companies sense the potential for real added value. Sarah Kilpatrick, BD Group Lead at Pfizer, explained that her company assesses potential deals across four components: the asset’s strategic fit with Pfizer’s global corporate strategy; the level of unmet medical need the science could serve; the asset’s ‘breakthrough potential’ and capacity to represent a paradigm shift in treatment; and the opportunity to be ‘first in class’ and truly build a market.

Panelists reminded biotechs that, in the words of Merck’s Michelle Li, “we are more than ATMs.” BD teams, S&E teams, and alliance managers in top pharma companies work hard to build trust, share expertise, and help biotechs to advance their science. Creative dealmaking and innovative deal structures provide truly win-win partnerships, a point Kilpatrick illustrated with Pfizer’s recent acquisition of Biohaven Pharmaceuticals.