Cooperating for faster results

Some challenges are so big, and in some cases so risky, that they can only be efficiently mastered by collaborating with partners. One such challenge is the development of technologies that make it possible to discover candidates for a medicine’s active ingredient.

In order to have a hand in various aspects of drug development starting at an early stage, Merck Serono not only supports startups and partners from the world of science but also cooperates with medium-sized and large companies. This benefits both sides. The partner companies are provided with funding for their research and can access the results.

 And early on in the development process Merck Serono can contribute, for example, the experience it has gained with complete product cycles, such as its knowledge of how to design clinical studies. In addition, both sides can share the risk. When the cooperation is a perfect match of different strengths, innovative developments are accelerated, the quality of research improves, and a drug can reach the market more quickly.

In order to support startup companies that could become future partners, Merck Serono established the Merck Serono Ventures fund in 2009. The fund, which currently totals EUR 40 million, is now providing support for up to ten companies. “We are investing in outstanding scientific achievements in our main areas of interest, and this is also very important for startups,” says Roel Bulthuis. At Merck Serono headquarters in Geneva, Bulthuis heads the team that is on the lookout for promising approaches on behalf of the venture fund.

Funding is provided to support the partners’ efforts in the areas of research planning and development so that they can demonstrate that their products effectively provide benefits to patients. Merck Serono Ventures makes it easier for the funded companies to develop a product until it is mature enough for clinical studies and then to sell it to a company that will pursue clinical research culminating in the product’s approval. That company could be Merck itself, for example.

“In any case, the funded companies’ strategy foresees the sale of their drugs when they enter the advanced clinical studies phase, so it’s only logical for potential buyers to get involved in development early on,” Bulthuis explains. “The first two and a half years with the venture fund have been a very good experience and have enabled us to raise our profile as an interesting partner for biotech companies. The state of the economy is also making it harder for those companies to raise risk capital.”

But Merck Serono is not only collaborating with companies; its partners also include academic research institutes such as the MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston, Texas, and the Weizmann Institute of Science in Israel, where Merck Serono Ventures recently established the Merck Serono Israel Bioincubator Fund.

This fund enables scientists to establish companies growing out of their academic environment in order to further develop their research. Merck Serono supports this initiative with funding, a state-of-the-art research and development center for the scientists, and the management processes that are necessary for the establishment of commercial companies.

All of these partnerships are designed to result in a jointly generated and shared-use database, to identify challenges and alternatives at an early stage, and to reduce costs. And finally, the partners share the earnings as well as the risks.