Licensing agreement deals decline in rare diseases space: GlobalData

Licensing agreements are decreasing in the rare disease space in favour of more complex collaborations and partnerships. Indeed, of the strategic alliances formed by the top ten bio/pharma companies (by market cap) in the last year, 17 per cent were in the rare diseases space, according to the GlobalData Pharmaceutical Intelligence Center Deals Database.

Madeleine Roche, Associate Analyst at GlobalData comments, “The recent partnership deal between pharma giant Takeda Pharmaceutical Co and private biotech Evox Therapeutics, completed in March 2020 and valued at $882 million, is an example of how big pharma companies are searching for innovative biotechs to invest in the rare diseases space.”

Roche continued, “An emerging trend towards early-stage rare disease deals – as noted by Jazz Parmaceuticals’ Executive Vice-President Robert Lannone at the BIO 2020 conference last month – has been highlighted by high-profile partnerships such as the co-development deal between Gilead Sciences and Galapagos NV in August 2019, valued at over $6.5 million.”

Data from the GlobalData Pharmaceutical Intelligence Center Deals Database also support this, showing that licensing agreements in the rare diseases space has decreased by 40 per cent over the last five years.