In the dog days of summer, many baseball fans are thinking about the depth of their team’s farm system, whether they have what it takes to win it all this season, and in seasons to come. Biopharma companies aren’t much different—they have farm systems too, in the form of incubators and venture arms, where they strive to uncover exciting science and suss out where the therapeutic puck—if you’ll allow the mixed sports metaphor—is going next.
While a recent study by McKinsey & Company found that 45% of drugs in the pipelines of 20 large pharmaceutical companies were externally sourced in 2020 and M&A action ticked up late this spring, several pharmas are also tapping this incubator model—and helping to support fledgling, like-minded startups at the same time.
At Eli Lilly’s Lilly Gateway Labs, “at least half of our companies are doing…
