This article examines the question do external biopharma programs succeed at similar rates as internal projects? IN VIVO examined this question by analyzing the alliances of 2003, mining both Elsevier's Strategic Transactions database and SEC documents, and bolstering these data with independent reporting.

Discovery research is an ever more difficult investment to justify, so companies are placing greater emphasis on mining discoveries that have already been made but whose real value remains unexploited. Big Pharma, in part inhibited by habit and current infrastructure, has not moved aggressively in the new direction-but the jumpstart model now dominates small-company strategies and will increasingly translate into the rest of the industry.

Roche's October 2003 in-licensing of Ipsen's Phase I GLP-1 analog buys the Swiss group an initial stake in the fast-growing diabetes market. Most established diabetes players already have a compound in this class, but the partners hope that Ipsen's expertise in peptide delivery will set this program apart from competitors'. As the second licensing agreement between Roche and Ipsen in less than a year, the deal further validates Ipsen's pipeline, and suggests that Roche's carefully-managed partnership strategy continues to encourage repeat business.

Without the revenue increases to fuel R&D budget growth, Bristol-Myers' new CSO James Palmer must make more of existing assets. As he describes it in this interview, his conservative approach is symbolic of an entire industry waking up to its over-reliance on internal discovery and unvalidated targets. And as part of his risk-lowering strategy, he will continue to move the company away from low-acuity primary-care markets to far more specialized, higher-acuity segments where safety is less of a concern with regulators than efficacy.