David Hallett of Evotec, a sponsor company at the marcus evans Discovery Summit 2015, on the key elements behind successful drug discovery alliances.

1. What it Takes to Achieve a Successful Drug Discovery Alliance
Interview with: David Hallett, Executive Vice President Chemistry, Evotec
“Drug discovery collaborations must realise more than just cost reduction, otherwise all we may achieve is simply a reduction in the cost of failure,” according to David Hallett, Executive Vice President Chemistry, Evotec. “Collaborations have to increase the probability of success,” he adds.
Evotec, a drug discovery solutions company, is attending the marcus evans Discovery Summit 2015, in Cascais, Portugal, 16 - 17 March.
Why is drug discovery best done in collaboration?
Collaboration enables a pooling of infrastructures, resources, knowledge and experience; the ability to access complementary skill sets and a framework to share risk and rewards. The more experienced minds that are applied to a collective problem, the higher the probability of a solution being found.
How can the pharmaceutical industry develop medicines better, faster, and cheaper?
I do not think that the cost of bringing a drug to market will ever be “cheap”. Far too many potential drugs fail during initial efficacy studies in humans and this attrition drives overall costs. We need to be smarter in how we identify targets and pathways that will have an
impact on a disease. Since many diseases are heterogeneous in nature (multiple triggers) we also need to identify those people that have a higher chance of responding to a new therapy. Ultimately, we must create different funding models and understand the consequences for investors. People and companies need to make money – this is the world we live in today.
What superior outcome is possible with “integrated” drug discovery alliances? How can true integration be achieved?
Increasing the overall probability of success of a project through accessing external innovation and talent - “crowd sourcing” in a controlled way - is a major benefit of the alliance model. Capital efficiency is another benefit obtained through sharing of resource, accessing existing infrastructure and avoiding duplication. For instance, why would an emerging biotech invest millions building its own labs and facilities when the world is replete with such infrastructure? Surely it would be better directing that money towards advancing its scientific portfolio?
The word “integrated” reflects the interdisciplinary nature of drug discovery so for me this means partners that have assembled the critical components of discovery research (e.g. medicinal chemistry, DMPK, in vitro and in vivo biology); partners who really understand the drug discovery and development process and who bring true project thinking to enable better decisions and better compounds.
What set up is required for alliances to work?
Truly successful alliances occur when partners have similar goals, the same sense of obligation and alignment on risk and reward. In addition, all parties need to have a common understanding of individual roles and responsibilities.
It is also critical that alliance members are able to exchange information
quickly and freely as this enables the creation of knowledge and helps foster a creative environment.
Finally, successful collaborations do not put cost ahead of quality or experience.
When more than two parties are involved, what is needed to make the collaboration successful?
In such circumstances it is even more important to set clear “ground rules”, to identify effective and efficient communication channels and to be very clear on who is responsible for which activity. Access to knowledge and data by all parties has to be as effective as possible. In today’s global marketplace where partners may be in different time zones, people need to be able to access all relevant information at any time of the day and not have to wait for a reply to their email. This latter point is often overlooked but in my experience never easy to implement.
It is critical that partners are able to exchange information quickly and freely

2. The Pharma Network – marcus evans Summits group delivers peer-to-peer information on strategic matters, professional trends and breakthrough innovations.
Please note that the Summit is a closed business event and the number of participants strictly limited.
About the Discovery Summit 2015
The 15th annual Global Discovery Summit is the premium forum bringing elite buyers and sellers together. The two track summit offers early drug discovery and preclinical R&D professionals and specialist solution providers an intimate environment for a focused discussion of key new drivers shaping discovery research and development. Taking place at the Grande Real Villa Itália Hotel & Spa, Cascais, Lisbon, Portugal, 16 - 17 March 2014, the Summit includes presentations on revolutionising the pharma business model, boosting pipeline productivity, fuelling profitable partnerships, and exploiting current and emerging technologies to drastically reduce research timelines and improve costs.
www.discovery-summit.com
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About Evotec
Evotec is a drug discovery solutions company providing drug discovery expertise and capabilities to pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies as well as to academic institutions. Drug discovery solutions are provided in form of fee-for-service work, integrated drug discovery alliances, development partnerships, licensing of innovative drug candidates and consulting arrangements. The Company operates worldwide and has leading scientific experts, state-of-the-art technologies as well as key therapeutic expertise in the areas of neuroscience, pain, metabolic diseases, oncology, inflammation and infectious diseases.
www.evotec.com
About marcus evans Summits
marcus evans Summits are high level business forums for the world’s leading decision-makers to meet, learn and discuss strategies and solutions. Held at exclusive locations around the world, these events provide attendees with a unique opportunity to individually tailor their schedules of keynote presentations, case studies, roundtables and one-to-one business meetings.
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To view the web version of this interview, please click here: www.discovery-summit.com/DavidHallett