A Look Back At 2010: In Search Of New Biopharma Models

01 Jan 2011

2010 was a year of transition, filled with the exploration of new industry models. Health care reform hinted at short-term pain and long-term gain while investment, R&D and commercial challenges combined with a heightened sense of industry desperation to bring out biopharma's creative side. But as with any experiment, there is ample risk of failure.

The dealmaking trends of 2010 solidified patterns that first surfaced in 2009 (minus the megamergers): risk-sharing deal structures, an emphasis on diversification and emerging markets, and earlier access to new products and technologies. CVRs became a household acronym and – as Sanofi' continued attempts to buy Genzyme Corp. clearly demonstrate – have moved well beyond acquisitions of private biotechs. Options were once again de rigueur. [See Deal] Aside from the increased familiarity with an important deal structure was greater awareness of reimbursement issues and a renewed emphasis on the kinds of innovation that can find lower tier formulary placement. Perhaps as a direct extension of that awareness, companies continued to emphasize their ambitions to focus on unmet medical need – in some cases drawing industry's largest companies to build up presence in niche or rare diseases that had previously been attractive markets only to small biotechs.

The passage of health care reform in the US in the form of the Affordable Care Act – setting aside...