Small- to mid-sized (aka “emerging”) firms bring fewer
resources to bear on the same drug development problems
as large pharmaceutical companies. All developers face
rising regulatory requirements. But, on top of these common
challenges and risks, emerging companies face unique
pressures. They have relatively smaller finances. They rely
on funding from increasingly skeptical and sophisticated
investors who are conducting more rigorous due diligence
than in the past, and are turning to outcomes-based financing
models. Ubavka DeNoble, MD, Corporate Vice President,
PAREXEL, explains how emerging companies can succeed by
concentrating on science, filling in expertise or resource gaps
when needed and pivoting agilely – all tactics that may be
harder for their big pharma counterparts to execute.