Entrepreneurship in Drug Discovery and Development

This course is designed for students who want to learn about idea development, entrepreneurship, and start-up processes within the pharmaceuticals and related (bio)technologies area. While intellectual property rights form an important part of the content, the scope of the course is broader than this, emphasizing an overview of entrepreneurship within the area, in which intellectual property constitutes

one of several key aspects. In doing so, conditions for innovation, intellectual property rights, and patenting are introduced, covering the structure of patent applications and concepts such as objective novelty, priority principle, and inventive step. An account is also made of various aspects of patent literature, as well as approaches to searches within the pharmaceutical area. These theoretical sessions are complemented by illustrative case studies. In parallel, students will apply these tools to develop a venture idea in groups of 3-5 students through project work, in-class exercises, and interaction with stakeholders, including considerations of: (i) intellectual property rights, (ii) market/competition, (iii) scientific/technical development aspects, (iv) clinical trial plans, and (v) investment strategies, ultimately resulting in the development of a business case, to be presented orally at the final workshop, as well as in a written business case outline.

The purpose of the course is to provide students interested in developing their own ventures and/or in entrepreneurial and innovation processes with a set of tools they can use to engage in new ventures or innovation teams within the pharmaceutical area. Moreover, the course aims to provide an overview of the significance of intellectual property rights in pharmaceutical research and development. This is linked to current developments within pharmaceutical industry, how this relates to entrepreneurial opportunities, as well as to strategic considerations of market/competition, scientific/technical development aspects, clinical trial plans, and investment strategies, illustrated by business case studies. To set this in practice, the students will develop a business case in groups of 3-5, to be presented/pitched at a final workshop, and provided feedback on by other students and the course team. In addition, students will write a written business case outline based on the pitch. For this, students are encouraged to come up with an idea beforehand. Alternatively, students will be able to develop an idea with help from the course team. To facilitate the business case development, and to secure progression, each group is provided with a mentor to support in business case identification and pitch finalization. The outcome is that students will be able to build on the knowledge and teamwork experiences from the course during their entrepreneurial career, and in further graduate courses on specific topics within innovation, entrepreneurship, and business development.