Structuring, Negotiating and Managing Life Sciences Collaborative Agreements and Acquisitions 2011

Big Pharma Headed for More Deals, Less New Drug Applications

Analysts and industry executives note that drug makers and other life sciences companies will likely continue their flurry of big-dollar deals, in an effort to expand their product lines, acquire cutting-edge technologies, and move into new markets. That trend does not show any signs of letting up. (Seeking Alpha, 9/07/10)

The promise of an eventual sale to some bigger company is virtually the sole scenario that currently enables cash-hungry biotech companies to attract funding, say industry veterans. Meanwhile, the big drug companies are losing patent protection on many of their profitable franchises, and willing to pay handsomely for potential new drugs. (The Seattle Times, 9/11/10)

With future success dependent on building successful partnerships, attend ACI s 14th Advanced Forum on Structuring, Negotiating and Managing Life Sciences Collaborative Agreements and Acquisitions 2011 to learn how to be able to secure the best terms available for meeting your company s critical needs. A front line faculty of leading deal-makers including senior representatives from Merck, Abbott, Pfizer, Genentech, Eisai, Astellas, Novartis, Genzyme, and Biogen Idec will help you to develop a dynamic alliance strategy and negotiate successful and lucrative deals.

You will learn best practices that will enable your company to advance its key business development strategies, including putting more products in the pipeline and providing for jumpstarts in revenues. Specific guidance will be provided on how to structure transactions to allow for entry into important emerging markets, and on building flexible provisions for potential future M&A into your agreements. You will learn how to structure options and payments in alternative ways to meet specific financial needs, and to provide for the sharing of costs and risks relating to clinical trial results and securing regulatory approvals. In addition, special insights will be provided for overcoming the unique challenges raised by negotiating with different types of research institutions.

While collaborations can be used to replenish pipelines and open up emerging areas, potential partners are increasingly seeking to retain valuable product rights, and power dynamics make it difficult to secure licenses or market access without granting potentially lucrative co-development options. In addition, international competition is increasing, markets are changing, and M&A activity is heating up again and must be factored into any negotiation going forward. ACI has specifically developed this 14th Advanced Forum on Structuring, Negotiating and Managing Life Sciences Collaborative Agreements and Acquisitions 2011 to provide guidance for meeting all these challenges in your future negotiations and enable you to translate recent trends into winning agreements. A special highlight of the program will be the industry spotlight remarks by Barbara Yanni, Vice President and Chief of Licensing at Merck, who will explain how Merck uses partnering as a core business strategy.

Add significant value to your experience by attending our Post-Conference Master Class: Life Sciences IP Due Diligence Boot Camp. Without proper IP due diligence, a pharmaceutical or biotech company can get blindsided and a potentially lucrative opportunity can vanish. This thorough and hands-on session will enable you to learn in one day how to spot the right red flags and do cost-effective diligence in the global life sciences context.