Isomorphic Labs, on the 7th of January this year announced that it has entered into strategic partnerships with Eli Lilly & Novartis intending to apply AI for discovering new medications to treat diseases.
“We’re thrilled to embark on this partnership and apply our proprietary technology platform,” DeepMind co-founder and Isomorphic CEO Demis Hassabis said in a press release. “The focus we share on advancing groundbreaking drug design approaches and appreciation of state-of-the-art science makes [these] partnership[s] particularly compelling.”
Fiona Marshall, president of biomedical research at Novartis, added in a statement: “Cutting-edge AI technologies . . . hold the potential to transform how we discover new drugs and accelerate our ability to deliver life-changing medicines for patients. This collaboration harnesses our companies’ unique strengths, from AI and data science to medicinal chemistry and deep disease area expertise, to realize new possibilities in AI-driven drug discovery.”
Driven by rapid advancements in science and technology coupled with the ever-increasing complexity and cost of drug development the pharmaceutical industry is in a constant state of flux. Characterized by huge investments of time & resources within single firms, traditional R&D models often prove insufficient to address these challenges.
This has resulted in a growing trend of partnerships which bring together numerous stakeholders to share risks, pool resources as well as accelerate innovation. These collaborations are reshaping the landscape of pharmaceutical Research & Development in profound ways and these include public-private partnerships, academic-industry collaborations as well as biotech-pharma partnerships, and pharma-pharma alliances.
In pharmaceutical R&D, the PPPs have emerged as one of the pivotal models specifically to address diseases that lack sufficient commercial incentives for private sector investment. Combining the innovative capabilities as well as agility of the private sector with the public sector’s resources & commitment to public health, these partnerships leverage the strengths of public as well as private entities. For example, the Medicines for Malaria Venture exemplifies how Public-Private Partnerships (PPPs) can help in driving progress against neglected tropical diseases.
Medicines for Malaria Venture or MMV collaborate with various stakeholders such as governments, pharmaceutical companies & academic institutions for developing & delivering new antimalarial drugs. These partnerships can handle significant global health challenges more effectively than both the sectors could alone by pooling resources & expertise. Lastly, the collaborative nature of Public-Private Partnerships (PPPs) ensure that the development of essential drugs is not just driven by market profitability but also through health requirements, which lead to greater accessibility as well as affordability of diseases treatment which disproportionately affect low-income population.
One of the leading players in the Saudi retail pharma industry, United Pharmaceutical Company announced its strategic partnership with SAP and DBS SAP in the month of March this year with an aim to embark transformative journey towards improved efficiency & innovation.
"We are thrilled that SAP will be a strategic partner in our transformative journey. UPC is one of the fastest growing
companies in the Saudi healthcare sector, and SAP will more than support our expansion strategy with its world class expertise in technological resource planning. This will eventually enable UPC to provide superior service to our customers”, said Mr. Khalid Yassin, CEO, United Pharmaceutical Company.
“This strategic partnership will see United Pharma Company (UPC) embark on a transformative journey leveraging SAP’s latest innovative technologies to capitalize on growth opportunities for the company and to respond to the industry’s fast-changing needs with agility. With RISE with SAP, UPC is poised to significantly enhance its operations and set new standards for the pharmaceutical retail industry,” said Mohammed Alromaizan, Vice President, SAP Saudi Arabia.
Pharma-pharma alliances are another significant trend. The collaborations between pharmaceutical enterprises themselves and their partnerships help firms in sharing the substantial costs as well as risks that are associated with drug development. Through this they leverage each other’s strengths as well as capabilities.
One such notable example includes the collaboration among Pfizer & Merck in the development & commercialization of Bavencio (avelumab). This is a monoclonal antibody for the treatment of specific kinds of cancers. Such types of alliances help organizations to combine their respective research capabilities, market access as well as technologies. This helps in augmenting the development of innovative therapies as well as expanding their reach in the market.
Pharmaceutical companies can overcome the obstacles which may be insurmountable individually and this will help in improving their ability of bringing new treatments to patients even more quickly. Also, these collaborations can help in fostering both competitive as well as cooperative environment where organizations can learn well from each other, drive industry-wide advancements in drug developments & adopt best practices.
The synergy between biotech companies and pharma firms has proven to be one of the powerful drivers of innovation in drug development. While larger pharmaceutical companies have the resources as well as infrastructure that is necessary for advancing these innovations via later-stage development & commercialization, Biotech firms lead in cutting edge research & early stage discoveries. The partnership between Amgen & Novartis for developing and marketing Aimovig (erenumab) – which is a novel treatment for prevention of migraines and this demonstrates the benefits of such collaborations.
The partnership of Novartis and Amgen was able to bring a groundbreaking therapy to the market by combining Novartis’ robust development & commercialization capabilities with Amgen’s innovative research. These biotech-pharma collaborations are valuable specifically to bridge the gap between the delivery of new treatments to patients & the early scientific discovery. Furthermore, these partnerships can help in the transfer of technology as well as knowledge by leading to the development of more sophisticated as well as effective therapeutic solutions which may not have been possible via the efforts of a single entry.
Most of the trends are likely to shape the pharmaceutical R&D partnerships landscape in the future. The increasing integration of AI and digital health in drug development offers new collaboration opportunities. Also, partnerships between pharmaceutical companies & tech firms can drive innovations in patient care, drug discovery & personalized medicine. Lastly, the key to overcoming these challenges of modern drug development & delivering on the promise of new as well as effective therapies for a wide range of diseases is the dynamic interplay of numerous stakeholders present in these partnerships.
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