Three new rules for biopharma collaborations

 May 21, 2012 | By Ryan McBride  Last week I moderated a panel called "The New Rules of Partnerships and Collaborations" at the Convergence East conference on Cape Cod, and the experience gave me a chance to probe some of the biopharma industry's top dealmakers about their preferences and prejudices going into talks with other companies. I've decided to write down three key observations or "rules" that emerged during the panel and other notes from the Convergence meeting.   1. Competition is heating up for compelling clinical-stage assets--and not just those in Phase III trials. Take Biogen Idec's ($BIIB) recent buyout of Stromedix for its Phase II-ready antibody STX-100 for combating fibrosis. Apparently, Pfizer ($PFE) was interested in buying the asset, Jose-Carlos Gutierrez-Ramos, senior vice president of biotherapeutics R&D at the drug giant, revealed during the panel. Gutierrez-Ramos and Steven Holtzman, Biogen's chief dealmaker (who obviously won the Stromedix deal), traded some jabs about why Biogen prevailed. The bottom line: Stromedix had options.    2. Which partners are most coveted among biotechs? At least in oncology, Celgene ($CELG) appears to be winning over collaborators. In one off-the-record conversation, two heads of business development told me that biotechs are warming up to the flexibility and creativity of the Summit, NJ-based drugmaker in deals. Celgene has been quite active with the recent buyout of Avila Therapeutics, partnership deal with Epizyme and ongoing tie-up with Agios Pharmaceuticals. Yet I wonder whether sharp biotech dealmakers in Cambridge, MA, are getting the best of Celgene at the negotiating table.