Recent deal trends in academic drug discovery in the US and Europe

Abstract

Objectives: The purpose of this study is to grasp recent global deal trends on academic drug discovery by comprehensively and quantitatively analyzing the deals between academia and industry in the US and Europe.

Methods: During 2010-2015, academic drug discovery deals in the US, the UK, France, Italy, and Spain were analyzed using Cortellis Deals Intelligence database provided by Clarivate Analytics Co., Ltd.

Results: 1) Total number of deals related to academic drug discovery was 703. Private sector company was a main buyer of the deals (672 deals, 95.6% of total deals）2) Most of the deals were licensing (669 deals, 95.2% of total deals). The 669 deals showed the below characteristics. 3) Oncology-related deals had the greatest percentage of total, followed by deals related to immunology-inflammation-vascular disease, diabetes, and peripheral and central nervous system diseases. 4) Technology deals related to low molecular weight compound, diagnostics, and therapeutic antibodies were dominant and these deals accounted for 45 % of total. 5) Most deals were signed at the basic research and preclinical development stage. Recent deals tended to be dominantly signed at the basic research stage. 6) Fifteen percent of total deals were signed with option.

Conclusions: So far as the authors know, this paper presents the first comprehensive deal analysis about academic drug discovery and demonstrates overall trends in the US and Europe.