Value Creation in Pharma and Biotechnology

Overall Course Objectives The course equips students with the competencies needed to translate scientific innovation into strategic and commercial value in industry. While the course is grounded in the pharma and biotechnology sector, it is open to all students who want to understand how business value can be created from scientific discoveries and inventions. Students learn to assess the strategic, market, intellectual property, and financial dimensions of a new discovery or idea, and to develop a structured plan for its implementation and commercialization. The course is particularly relevant for students considering a career at the intersection of science and business, whether being in a commercially-oriented role, as a start-up founder, or applying business thinking in research. Learning Objectives analyze the competitive landscape of a pharma, biotech, or bioinformatics market using established strategic frameworks assess whether a new discovery meets the criteria for patent protection and identify an appropriate IP strategy. analyze strategic interactions in pharma, biotech, and bioinformatics markets using strategic game theory, including patent races, licensing negotiations, and market entry decisions. estimate the commercial potential of a new discovery using market-sizing and revenue-forecasting methods. evaluate the financial value of a drug asset or innovation project using discounted cash flow analysis. compare and justify a commercialization pathway for a pharma, biotech, or bioinformatics innovation, considering, for example, licensing and spin-out as alternative routes. develop a structured implementation plan that integrates scientific, strategic, and financial contributions into a coherent written deliverable. collaborate effectively in a multidisciplinary group throughout the project development process. use AI tools as a thinking partner to support strategic and commercial analysis, and critically evaluate AI-generated outputs before incorporating them into a business case or implementation plan. Course Content Value Creation: stakeholder, shareholder and societal value impact of innovation, value creation versus value capture. Competitive strategy: industry structure analysis, Porter’s Five Forces, the technology S-curve, and first-mover versus late-mover advantages in pharma and biotech markets. Intellectual property rights: types of IP protection, patentability requirements in pharma and biotech, patent lifecycle, freedom to operate, and strategic choices between patenting and trade secrecy. Game theory: strategic interaction, Nash equilibrium, sequential games, patent races, pay-for-delay agreements, and coordination in IP-intensive industries. Pricing strategy: value-based pricing, willingness to pay, market segmentation, and pharma-specific pricing approaches, including sequential skimming and access pricing. Market sizing: TAM/SAM/SOM framework, epidemiology-based sizing, and revenue forecasting for pharmaceutical products. Financial valuation: net present value, discounted cash flow analysis, drug asset valuation, and an introduction to deal structures for commercialization, including licensing and spin-out. Group project: students work in groups to develop an implementation plan for a selected pharma or biotechnology innovation or discovery. Teaching Method Lectures, exercises, group work, and multiple-choice quizzes (MCQ) based on the general course learning objectives. Faculty Sebastian Sbirna Contact or read more about Sebastian Remarks Students are encouraged (but not required) to bring a case with commercial potential to use as the basis for the group project. This can be a master thesis or focus project, a new invention, a start-up idea, or any project with commercial potential from any bio-related field. Students without a case will be assigned to an existing group project or will use a real-life case study as a starting point. See course in the course database.