2. Don't Forget Your Strategic Plan

Once you've answered these basic questions , the temptation will be to move straight to researching potential partners. But several important steps should come first. First, review your strategic plan and analyze how partnering fits into it. What are the goals and plans you have set for your company? Will partnering advance them? Are there elements of a potential deal that under the strategic plan are non-negotiable? Are they realistic? In some cases, simply contemplating a possible partnership will lead companies to reconsider their basic business strategies. That's fine, as long as everyone is clear: The goal isn't to make a partnership; the goal is to advance the business. Once you've figured out how a partnership fits with your strategic plan, the next objective should be to develop a partnering strategy. A well-planned and executed strategy will include a thorough assessment of the commercialization potential of the partnership and development of the available strategic positioning options. Since sound decision-making requires empirical data to either substantiate or refute the partnering hypothesis, it is imperative to gather data and analyze it.

3. Develop an IP Management Strategy

4. Assess the Commercialization Potential

Once a plan is developed to manage the portfolio of IP, the commercialization potential of the IP must be determined. While various frameworks and methodologies are traditionally employed, most include the evaluation of internal and external factors such as development status/potential, internal capabilities, market size, need and competitive environment. To evaluate internal factors such as the development potential, probability-of-success estimates based on analogs or historical programs can be used to develop risk adjusted valuations. Typically, IP in later stages of development has a greater risk-adjusted value than corresponding programs in nascent stages of development. Internal capabilities and/or resources will play another critical role in evaluating the internal probability of success.

While these internal factors help dictate value, external factors including market size, need and competitive pressure must also be included when valuing IP. Strategic questions should be evaluated as part of this exercise, including: What is the market for the IP or technology? What is the current and anticipated market need? What will be the impact of this new product or technology on the market? Who, and how many competitors/competing technologies are there in the market? The target patient population size is another important commercialization attribute that can serve as a proxy for the market potential of the IP. This is an especially useful tool in evaluating emerging technologies or products for which there is no established precedent.

5. Evaluate Your Portfolio

Once the commercial value of a particular asset/program/IP is understood, its position relative to the broader IP portfolio of the organization should be evaluated. Understanding the strategic position within the portfolio will help to prioritize individual programs objectively, and best utilize partnering/licensing resources in a constrained environment. For top-priority IP, a value proposition that identifies scientific and clinical advantages can be developed. With a value proposition, partnership options can be identified and evaluated. Strengths and weaknesses of various alliance agreements such as collaborative marketing, licensing, and co-development should be identified to preclude unattractive options from future analysis. Once this evaluation is complete strategic positioning options can be ranked, and relative strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats assigned to each asset/program/IP.

6. Gather and Analyze Data

With the IP positioned within the organization's broader IP portfolio, careful data-gathering and analysis should occur, in order to understand the financial, strategic and operational value to a potential partner. An evaluation of the potential applications for the IP and the respective competitive environment can be determined.