Log in

BUILDING A BUSINESS

How large pharma impacts biotechnology startup success

  • Building a Business
  • Published:

From Nature Biotechnology

View current issue Submit your manuscript

Implications for bioentrepreneurs.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Subscribe and save

Springer+ Basic
EUR 32.99 /Month
  • Get 10 units per month
  • Download Article/Chapter or Ebook
  • 1 Unit = 1 Article or 1 Chapter
  • Cancel anytime
Subscribe now

Buy Now

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Fig. 1: Involvement of large pharma throughout the startup life cycle.
Fig. 2: Success rate for startups with and without large pharma investors.
Fig. 3: Median current market capitalization and acquisition value for startups with and without large pharma investors.
Fig. 4: Startup success rate by development stage at first venture financing round.
Fig. 5: Investor ties to large pharma. Investors’ share of their successful portfolio companies that have exited via acquisition and share of investors’ portfolio companies that have attracted large pharma in the same or subsequent years of the investment.

References

  1. Geilinger, U. & Bujak, E. 2019 HBM New Drug Approval Report. https://www.hbmpartners.com/en/news-research/?pageIdd55d7643=4#tab_d858312ec47cb6a64ac33daec0044371_3 (2019).

  2. Schuhmacher, A., Gassmann, O. & Hinder, M. J. Transl. Med. 14, 105–116 (2016).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  3. Senior, M. Nat. Biotechnol. 36, 291–292 (2018).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  4. Chin, M. H. W., Gentleman, E., Coppens, M.-O. & Day, E. M. Trends Biotechnol. 38, 1054–1065 (2020).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  5. Christel, M. Pharmaceutical Executive 39 (6), 12–23 (2019).

    Google Scholar 

  6. Rooswinkel, R. W., Berbers, D. S. W., Claassen, E. H. J. H. M. & van Deventer, S. Nat. Biotechnol. 34, 1095–1098 (2016).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Daniela S. Couto.

Ethics declarations

Competing interests

G.M.v.D. and D.S.C. are employed by BioGeneration Ventures and S.v.D. is employed by Forbion Capital Partners. These companies invest in biotech ventures.

Supplementary information

Supplementary Information

Supplementary Table 1

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Melchner von Dydiowa, G., van Deventer, S. & Couto, D.S. How large pharma impacts biotechnology startup success. Nat Biotechnol 39, 266–269 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41587-021-00821-x

Download citation

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41587-021-00821-x

  • Springer Nature America, Inc.

This article is cited by

Navigation