Nowadays, more than half of the industry’s drug discoveries originate outside the walls of traditional pharma companies – with many firms supplementing their in-house R&D with external partners. But are the innovative startups responsible for much of the industry’s early drug development getting the exposure they need?
“The Hive” is a project set up by Elsevier R&D Solutions where biotech and pharma startups can apply for the chance to be given a platform to share their work with the wider R&D community, and to receive complimentary access to Elsevier’s tools. Christy Wilson, Senior Director, Pharma and Biotech Segment at Elsevier R&D Solutions, gives us the lowdown. What? The Hive aims to raise the visibility of promising work from biotech and pharma startups, and to share lessons in overcoming pharma R&D challenges with the wider community. Companies need to apply to have their work showcased. Why? The pharmaceutical community is facing a well-documented productivity challenge, and the costs associated with new drug development continue to soar. We think that the wider pharma R&D ecosystem can learn a lot from some of the younger, more nimble organizations. However, such companies can struggle to be heard and a lot of great research goes unnoticed. How? The Hive will publish case studies on successful companies, and we’ll also be sharing work on social media channels. In addition, chosen firms will also receive complimentary access to Elsevier R&D Solutions’ suite of tools; a collection of intelligence and technology tools designed to help improve discovery and development decision making. We also expect some traditional pharma companies to offer some of the innovative startups the capability to further develop and commercialize their innovations. Who? The best candidates for The Hive are biotech and pharmaceutical startups actively working in the early discovery stages through to early stage clinical development. Companies with three or more scientists on staff are ideal. Potential candidates can apply to The Hive themselves or they can be nominated by someone else. Nominated candidates will complete a questionnaire about their research, funding, and goals over the next twelve months; selected candidates will then be invited to participate in a phone interview before the final selection. When? Rolling enrolment for The Hive commenced on April 20, 2016 and will continue throughout the year.
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