How Should Big Pharma Partner With Academia? A Perspective From Lilly

By Ed Miseta, Chief Editor, Clinical Leader

In preparation for upcoming patent expires, Eli Lilly and Company (NYSE: LLY) has been transforming itself to better deal with the increasing costs of developing life-saving medicines and possible decreases in revenue. One of the primary goals of the company has been to move away from a model where virtually 100% of R&D was in-house. By decreasing fixed expenditures, and increasing flexible spending, the company would be in a better position to manage its clinical and manufacturing costs.

More recently, that plan is evolving into academic partnerships as well. “We are now asking if, in the ecosystem of drug development and discovery, there is a fundamental place where we can work in a systematic way with academic institutions,” says Andy Dahlem, VP of Lilly Research Lab (LRL) Operations and LRL Europe for Eli Lilly and Company. “The proposition has become more interesting because of the increasing pressures being placed on academic institutions and their business model. This is occurring at the same time Pharma faces increased cost pressures.”