Increasingly we are hearing that large pharma companies are in trouble with weak pipelines for new technologies, academics are looking to draw in revenue through collaborative industrial agreements, and health services are making the most of their patient cohorts through delivery of bespoke clinical services to industry. Translational medicine and convergent technologies are becoming the buzzwords in so many new commercial developments. So what is it that makes all this possible? How is all this progress to be delivered? It’s a pretty safe bet that at the heart of this activity is partnership. From academia to the hospital to industry or, as some would say, bench to bedside to business, it’s the interpersonal connections that hold the key.

Translational medicine and convergence of technology all come about through branching out connections between experts from a variety of fields. The development of basic research into applied clinical areas and the merging of ideas from one sector into another needs knowledge and understanding that span two zones. Without this, the translation or convergence will stall as it fails to progress to the point where it makes sense, purely because it lacks the connecting branch between the two areas. The key to branching out successfully is knowledge and understanding, but, with this plethora of sources, how do you get these and, more to the point, how do you do this quickly?

KNOWLEDGE AS THE KEY TO PROGRESSION

If knowledge is so powerful, then how do we ensure that we’re using the best methods to get it? Partnering provides the mechanism to surround yourself with links to the key individuals in the field you want to access, so you can mutually gain access to information and acquire the knowledge you need to progress. The key impetus behind partnering is knowledge; that is, not simply information, but knowledge that brings with it understanding, experience and insight, making it all the more powerful a tool in developing future success. Partnering is certainly a buzz trend – at the 2007 BIO convention in Boston over 11,000 one-to-one business meetings took place, involving global pharmaceutical companies, biotechnology companies and academic research institutes. There’s undeniably big business to be made with these countless opportunities, but is it feasible for small start ups to get involved, alongside big businesses?