big pharma companies open to deals

Big pharma companies open to deals with small biotechs, conference hears
FEBRUARY 28, 2011
http://www.vancouversun.com/business/pharma+companies+open+deals+with+small+biotechs+conference+hears/4362074/story.html

good article. some highlights from the horse's mouth -- Barbara Yanni, Merck VP

"... big multinational pharmaceutical companies like USA-based Merck are always looking to strike partnerships with smaller players."

"We look for innovation across academic, biotech, small, medium pharma, big pharma to big pharma deals, all kinds of deal types, deal terms, therapeutic areas - Merck has eight major therapeutic areas and we are looking for growth in all those areas."

"It's extremely important to Merck that we have a lot of partnerships to supplement our internal research. In terms of revenue, around 63 per cent of Merck's current revenue is derived from products for which we need a license from another company to sell that product - whether it be a vaccine where we have a lot of technologies or a compound that we licensed in from a partner.

"This shows you that the future of Merck is very dependent on the kinds of partnerships we have done and we are hoping to do more..."