At the base of pharmaceutical discovery are technologies derived from basic science carried out in academic laboratories in universities , medical institutions and early-stage science driven biotechnology companies. Commercial implementation of platform discovery platforms and development of resulting therapeutic, diagnostic and medical-device products and medical devices is the purvue of biotechnology companies, usually funded initially by foundation, government and private investors (angel investor networks and venture capital funds) who provide the capital to support an increasingly expensive development process as products move through pre clinical and clinical development to obtain clinical "proof of concept” in Phase IIa studies. Most biotech companies do not have the cash or development resources to continue development into large and very expensive Phase III safety and efficacy studies by themselves, and must find big pharma development partners, either through licensing or M&A, with the resources and expertise to complete clinical development and obtain marketing approval. Partnering success is complicated by industry consolidation world wide through M&A (pharma-pharma, pharma-large biotech, biotech-biotech), reducing the playing field of companies available for partnering deals.

Have big pharma mergers, creating ever larger pharma companies, delivered on their promises to add value? Or are smaller, more strategic ‘bolt on’ deals, which often result from a biotech/ pharma licensing or research collaboration a better answer? What do early-stage biotech companies have to be today and what do they need to accomplish over the next few years to survive? The 10th Annual Philadelphia-Japan Health Sciences Dialogue will explore these phenomena in depth.