Powered by Open Innovation: Opportunities and Challenges in the Pharma Sector
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CURRENT OPINION
Powered by Open Innovation: Opportunities and Challenges in the Pharma Sector Maria Angeles Martinez‑Grau1 · Maria Alvim‑Gaston2 Published online: 26 April 2019 © Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2019
Abstract The value of innovation in medicines is clear. Despite all of the progress in the twenty-first century, there are still many unmet medical needs and opportunities to improve healthcare. The challenges for pharmaceutical companies include ways in which to stay competitive and flexible in an environment of constant knowledge growth and increasingly sophisticated technologies, and ways to generate sufficient revenues to sustain their own growth. To that end, pharmaceutical companies are compelled to adapt different business models in the face of new challenges. The industry is plagued with long research and development (R&D) cycles and low success rates for innovative treatments; something has to change. The need to collaborate externally across the process of discovery, development, manufacturing and commercialization is a must. Furthermore, collaborations have increased in frequency and scope, expanding the opportunities to access global scientific talent in academia, research institutes and biotechnology companies. Despite the perception that pharma companies are ‘closed’ or tightly controlled industries, open innovation is already well established in the pharmaceutical sector and used to supplement R&D in the process of bringing new medicines for patients faster, and at a lower cost. Over the years, each pharma company has tailored the open-innovation concept to develop its own model based on particular needs and offerings. Independently of the model, the creation of successful partnerships in external innovation requires reaching out and connecting beyond the traditional organizational boundaries. Substantial internal cultural changes are required to implement open-innovation strategies that should co-exist without competing with the traditional ways of operating. Major changes bring challenges but create multiple opportunities for scientists and organizations. High-quality drug discovery requires continuous learning and an open way of thinking to adopt novel operational models and to implement efficient collaborations. Key points Pharmaceutical companies continue to face challenges to stay competitive and utilize external networks to identify solutions to scientific issues in research and development. Pharmaceutical companies are open to collaborate with academia to foster a more creative environment and produce innovative results. Cultural changes are instrumental in implementing successful open-innovation strategies. * Maria Alvim‑Gaston alvim‑[email protected] 1
Eli Lilly and Company, Avda. de la Industria 30, Alcobendas, 28108 Madrid, Spain
Eli Lilly and Company, Lilly Corporate Center, Indianapolis, IN 46285, USA
2
1 Introduction The drug-discovery process is continuously evolving, and pharmaceutical companies have designed different strategies for effective collaboration
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