< PreviousSTART-UPS 20 Pharma Business International www.pbiforum.net Driving innovation in the pharmaceutical industry, start-ups have helped change the R&D model, impacting what has been referred to as a broken blockbuster model. The transformation is seeing start-ups and large pharmaceutical companies come together, synergistically, to enhance the speed at which new treatments come to market. With agility, technical expertise, an ability to pivot and make quick decisions, science not bound by the red tape experienced by large firms, and the ability to focus on a few specific promising areas, start-ups are receiving funding to bring new drugs into fruition, backed up by large companies’ marketing and sales power. Showing the important role of start-ups, an HBM Recognised as key in innovation, large pharma companies are looking to start-ups to make up for falling R&D activity. Accelerating innovation © Shutterstock /LeoW olfert 20-23.qxp_Layout 1 10/08/2020 15:29 Page 1START-UPS Pharma Business International 21 www.pbiforum.net © Shutterstock /Ewa Studio Partners report from 2018 highlighted that, in the prior five years, start-ups accounted for sixty-three per cent of new prescription drug approvals. Collaborative relationships have grown over the past few years as small firms are recognised as the bodies primarily propelling innovation while large firms fund this to leverage outside talent, bolster pipelines and access breakthroughs in a cost-effective way without the risk of ten years and billions spent on a single drug. In a recent (April 2020) example of large pharma firms placing their bets on start-ups, Arrakis Therapeutics received a $190 million upfront cash payment from Roche. The move comes in a strategic collaboration and license agreement for the discovery of RNA-targeted small molecule (rSM) drugs against a broad set of targets across Roche’s research and development areas. Arrakis will lead discovery and research activities for each target to a defined point, where Roche will have the right to exclusively pursue further preclinical and clinical development. With a focus on developing a portfolio of start-ups, drug companies have established venture capital funds and incubators and become a key source of capital for innovation. Life science and biotech investors, VC companies in particular, continue to important too of course, as boosters of product development and company growth, and have plugged funding gaps in high-risk areas, such as Novo Holdings’ superbug venture fund investing $20-40 million in start-ups and early stage US and European companies with new approaches to fight antibiotic resistance - an area with a recognised early stage funding gap. Focusing in on the same area, more recently (in July 2020), with 22 Á 20-23.qxp_Layout 1 10/08/2020 15:29 Page 2START-UPS 22 Pharma Business International www.pbiforum.net the heightened understanding that new measures are needed to treat drug resistant infections, that those developing these drugs are lacking investment, and that the antibiotics industry is collapsing (three American antibiotics start-ups have gone bankrupt in the past year), twenty major pharma companies announced a $1 billion fund, created in partnership with the World Health Organisation, for biotech start-ups developing new antibiotics for drug resistant infections. The AMR Action Fund is to invest in companies that have uncovered promising drugs and is aiming to bring two to four novel antibiotics to the market in a decade. The fund comes as a surprising turn after pharma companies have moved away from antibiotic research due to limited commercial sustainability. A key stand out area of interest for collaboration for big pharma is AI-driven start-ups. Companies are turning to AI start-ups, investing in them along with venture capitalists, to assist in the discovery of new treatments, with AI’s potential to expedite drug discovery well noted, being able to find new molecular compounds quickly and making better outcome predictions, simultaneously cutting costs of failed drug candidates. In this area some start-ups are looking to become the main home for R&D, while leaving clinical testing to large companies. Others, however, are 20-23.qxp_Layout 1 10/08/2020 15:29 Page 3Pharma Business International 23 www.pbiforum.net START-UPS © Shutterstock /Gorodenkof f partnering with big firms with the hopes of taking over the drug discovery space completely. Perhaps one of the most famous AI-based start-up stories came last year (2019), when biotech firm Insilico used AI to generate a new potential kinase inhibitor in twenty-one days. As the industry deals with accelerating discovery and incorporating AI into R&D, start-ups worldwide will enact a vital role. Generally, early stage ventures have seen real investment growth. In the UK for instance, the UK Life Science Start- Up Report from BioCity, released in November 2019, shows unprecedented growth with a change in the funding landscape, expressed in a four-fold increase to £2.8 billion of investment in early stage ventures, compared to the previous five-year period. The greatest factor highlighted as stimulating this expansion is the emergence of a number of significant venture funds able and willing to make large investments in early stage businesses. Another contributing factor pinpointed is the growing use of smaller companies as a source of innovation by large pharma firms looking to counteract falling R&D activity. Caution has entered however in the wake of COVID-19. While often to attract new investment start-ups must push through goals such as human testing, the pandemic has seen fresh obstacles thrown in the way of progress. 20-23.qxp_Layout 1 10/08/2020 15:29 Page 4MARKETING 24 Pharma Business International www.pbiforum.net Connecting with consumers Data shows that more pharmaceutical companies than ever are adopting digital marketing strategies. But what’s driving this change? 24-27.qxp_Layout 1 10/08/2020 15:29 Page 1Pharma Business International 25 www.pbiforum.net MARKETING © Shutterstock /WHYFRAME Advertising has come on in leaps and bounds since the days of newspapers, billboards and the television screen. The internet, perhaps the single most disruptive force of our times, has provided new avenues for marketers to explore. It wasn’t simply a case of having another platform in which to extol the benefits of a new product or service, but rather the ongoing evolution of the web has forever changed the way in which people interact, consume media and share information. Targeted advertisers, user preferences and cookies have made it so that no two people’s online experience is the same. Marketers are now able to conduct in- depth analysis of online activity, ensuring they target only the desired demographic for a new product or service. TV viewing is on the decline as consumers turn their back on the terrestrial in favour of curating their own viewing – namely, online streaming. This has presented new opportunities for marketers. Video marketing has never been more effective or relevant having evolved to keep up with the times. The consumption of video content is on the rise, with video sharing platforms forming the lion’s share of some company’s marketing and digital strategy. The biggest influencer here, though, is social media, where users like, share and comment on content. This offers companies a valuable insight into the effectiveness of their marketing campaigns, as well as gaining first-hand feed-back. This was the kind of insight 26 Á 24-27.qxp_Layout 1 10/08/2020 15:29 Page 2MARKETING 26 Pharma Business International www.pbiforum.net that marketers could only dream of in the dark days before the internet. Marketers now are preoccupied with chasing ‘viral’ videos. It’s difficult – often impossible – to predict which videos are going to become viral hits. This may happen inadvertently, for reasons a company might be keen to avoid – i.e. bad production values, poor acting etc. But if all press is indeed good press, then this can only work in a company’s favour. Provided a video campaign does indeed go viral, it will likely be picked up by major media outlets, exposing it to an even greater audience than might have seen it without. For this reason, marketing companies might try to replicate popular videos, hoping to capture some of that same quality that resonated with and/or amused consumers. However, marketers must remember that the internet is fickle and what may have been a hit one week may not be the week after. Consumers have grown more cynical of traditional adverts, especially the coveted millennial and Gen Z demographics, which has come of age surrounding by mobile browsing and digital technology. This same age bracket hungers for experiences, as well as media that reflects them. This demographic is also famed for its rejection of traditional gender and sexual norms. So, in order to secure the millennial dollar, marketers need to make connections. The days of a doctor in a lab coat waxing lyrical about a new drug product or medical device are over. Instead, companies should try and connect through inspirational messages, inject a feel-good factor and demonstrate good corporate social responsibility. Pfizer, Sanofi and GSK have all put this into effect with successful video campaigns which put young people, inspirational messages and charity front and centre. And the results speak for themselves. Companies might want to also replicate the success of some of the web’s most popular video bloggers (or vloggers). Often these will involve a personality talking directly to camera, discussing a new product or experience with their viewers. This removes the boundaries between the two parties, making viewers feel very much a part of the wider discussion. Indeed, viewers are often invited to share their own thoughts in the comments. A company could even reach out to any vloggers that cover health, fitness or pharmaceuticals and forge connections. This kind of engagement has been seen in food and beauty, so why not pharma? Many of the top pharmaceutical companies also have a strong social media presence. Although companies have been wary of Twitter and Facebook et al in the past, those earlier reservations appear to be passing. Engaging with consumers on social channels is a great and low-cost means of spreading a company’s message and another example of how advertising has changed over the last decade. A few posts online may be just as effective now as a printed advert. The times are changing and like the products they serve, the pharma industry is evolving. The Pharma Marketer 2020 report surveyed more than one-hundred pharma and bioscience companies and found that, by 2022, one-third of pharma companies will spend over fifty per cent of their marketing budget on digital channels. Indeed, the number of organisations that are currently spend on average more than twenty per cent of their marketing budget on digital channels is expected to rise by over seventy per cent over the next six years. Proof, if it were needed, that marketing organisations across the globe are undergoing structural changes, adapting to a changing consumer base and new technologies. 24-27.qxp_Layout 1 10/08/2020 15:29 Page 3Pharma Business International 27 www.pbiforum.net MARKETING © Shutterstock /Studio217 24-27.qxp_Layout 1 10/08/2020 15:29 Page 4CORONAVIRUS UPDATE 28 Pharma Business International www.pbiforum.net Since the beginning of the year, Pharma Business International has endeavoured to bring readers the latest breakthroughs and developments in the ongoing effort to mitigate, manage and treat COVID-19. In this latest dedicated update, we explore some of the most promising therapeutic avenues as we move towards a vaccine. The response from the pharmaceutical, biopharma and life sciences sectors to the global COVID-19 pandemic has been admirable. Companies were quick to react, ploughing ahead with research, forging vital collaborations with industry peers and with academia, and, crucially, testing pre-existing treatments to see if they could be re-purposed to fight this new strain of coronavirus. However, despite these impressive efforts, an effective vaccine may still not be available until next year. As of writing, over 730,000 people globally have died because of COVID-19. Suffice it to say that time is of the essence and, on average, developing new antiviral treatments can take more than ten years. As we’ve already touched on, one of best ways of working within this pressing time frame is to explore drugs that have already received approval to treat other diseases. The leading COVID-19 antiviral is remdesivir. The drug – sold under the brand name Veklury – was originally created by California’s Gilead Sciences back in 2009 as part of its R&D programme for hepatitis C. In 2015, preclinical results showed that it blocked the Ebola virus in Rhesus monkeys. Earlier this year, it was granted Emergency Use Authorisation by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for the treatment of COVID-19 as well securing similar authorisation in India and Singapore. Since then, it has also been approved for use in Japan, the European Union and Australia for people with severe symptoms. The race for a vaccine 28-31.qxp_Layout 1 10/08/2020 15:30 Page 1Pharma Business International 29 www.pbiforum.net CORONAVIRUS UPDATE © Shutterstock /CROCOTHER Y The first generic version of the drug was launched in May by Bangladesh-based Beximco Pharmaceuticals. Given the severity of the pandemic, one antiviral alone, however effective, will not be enough. There have already been concerns that there is not enough available stock of the drug to meet global demand. Recently, researchers analysed a database of some 12,000 drugs that have already undergone different clinical trials and in vitro analysis to try and identify further potential antiviral drugs against SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19. Because the drugs in the database have already received screening and approval for effectiveness, safety and availability, scientists can reduce the time it takes to develop potential treatments. Using this database, the researchers identified one hundred that showed antiviral properties in response to SARS- CoV-2 in cells in the laboratory. Of those, they homed in on the twenty-one that seemed the most promising. Those drugs were then tested at various doses to assess which ones retained antiviral activity at concentrations that did cause too much damage to the cells. Based on the results of these tests, thirteen drugs were found to show clinically significant effects. Chief among these was LAM- 002A 9 (apilimod), a drug used to treat follicular lymphoma and autoimmune diseases. 30 Á 28-31.qxp_Layout 1 10/08/2020 15:30 Page 2Next >