Getting a partnership deal done requires more than a good pitch; it requires an internal advocate. Leaders should leverage their network to identify and cultivate a champion inside the target company. This person is critical for navigating internal bureaucracy and pushing the deal over the goal line, as "there's a million ways for deals to die."

Shelved drugs aren't a monolith. They typically fall into four categories: 1) dropped due to a strategic shift, 2) orphaned after a biotech acquisition, 3) returned to a small company after a partnership ends, or 4) legally inaccessible after a company's bankruptcy. Understanding these archetypes is key to tailoring a rescue strategy.

A successful acquisition strategy goes beyond the highest bid. It involves 'thinking like the molecule'—evaluating which buyer has the specific expertise, capabilities, and cultural alignment to best steward the asset's development. This reframes M&A from a financial transaction to a decision about the asset's future.

To succeed in large pharmaceutical companies, one must operate with a collaborative mindset. Influence is built not by individual discovery, but by working effectively with cross-functional teams (regulatory, commercial, medical affairs) and building trust by focusing on shared goals.

Discontinued drugs aren't hard to identify; the real challenge is navigating the out-licensing process inside a large pharma company. Without an internal champion to drive the complex approvals for a non-priority asset, promising drugs can languish on the shelf due to corporate inertia, not a desire to hide them.

The ultimate vision is a dynamic marketplace where pharma companies routinely list their shelved assets. This "eBay for drug candidates" would allow interested parties—from biotechs to patient advocacy groups—to access information, assess opportunities, and bid on developing these assets, creating a systematic and efficient repurposing pipeline.

A 'champion' likes your product, but a 'coach' has the internal experience and political capital to navigate procurement, legal, and other departments. To qualify a coach, confirm they have successfully managed similar complex projects in the past and can protect you from internal minefields.

R&D departments in large pharmaceutical companies often resist repurposing projects. Their leaders are rewarded for discovering new chemical entities, not for finding new applications for existing drugs, creating an internal funding barrier that business units must overcome.

The most challenging M&A negotiation often happens internally, not with the seller. CorpDev must convince internal product and engineering leaders to abandon their own projects and commit resources to an acquisition, especially when it directly replaces an in-house effort. Gaining this buy-in is critical for success.