Big Pharma's Leap into Biologics: Bridging both Scientific and Cultural Gaps

Pharma companies are bullish about biologics, seeing them as at least a partial solution for the pipeline troubles and reimbursement challenges bedeviling the industry. The major question is how best to bring these new biologics capabilities in-house--either piecemeal through a series of smaller acquisitions and licensing deals or in one fell swoop through the acquisition of a player with soup-to-nuts capabilities. Both strategies require delicate post-merger management skills, but many feel acquiring an end-to-end player is a faster, less risky solution to filling the biologics gap. But because few end-to-end biologics players are left for acquisition, in the future it seems likely that Big Pharma will be forced to make a serial acquisition strategy work.