AZ CEO makes new case for drug partnerships

BioWorld turned in an interesting feature on David Brennan's speech at BioPartnering Europe, where the buzz was all focused on the global economic crisis and the likely impact it would have on biotech. For Brennan, the CEO of AstraZeneca, the crisis makes it even more important for cash-rich pharma companies like AstraZeneca to do more partnership deals.

"Strong companies don't sit around passively waiting for the storm to pass. For AstraZeneca, strategic partnering is priority," he told the group. He then listed the six reasons why:

1. Combining resources creates more value for both parties.

2. Payers and regulators are demanding more and more, and it takes two to deliver.

3. Partnerships add new skills to your company.

4. Partnerships force companies to focus on key disease areas.

5. Years of experience at partnering has improved the whole process for pharma and biotech companies alike.

6. Partnerships are having a bigger impact up the development and marketing chain.

- for more details, go to the BioWorld article

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