In licensing pharma assets, screened before diligence money is spent.

In licensing pharma is the practice of securing the rights to develop or sell a drug, diagnostic or technology that another company created, instead of building it in-house. The licensee skips early discovery and takes on three kinds of risk with the candidate: clinical, commercial and execution. Nextyn screens shortlisted in-licensing candidates through expert and customer interviews before the deal, so only the strongest reach full diligence.

A Nextyn partner and asset screen delivers three outputs: a screened and ranked shortlist, expert and customer validation notes for each candidate, and risk flags to carry into diligence. Each output comes from primary interviews with clinical experts and target customers, not from desk research on the candidates or a pharma licensing deals database:

• Ranked shortlist: every candidate compared on clinical promise, customer relevance and execution risk
• Validation notes: what experts and customers said about each candidate, and why
• Risk flags: the open questions the diligence team must settle before signing

Nextyn interviews the three groups who can judge a candidate before a deal: clinical experts and KOLs, the customers the asset is meant for, and commercial experts in the target markets. The mix is matched to each candidate, so a biotech therapeutic and a diagnostic technology are each tested by the right people:

• Clinical experts and KOLs, on the science and the data
• Target customers, including physicians, laboratories and hospital buyers
• Commercial experts, on demand, competition and execution in each market

Nextyn runs in-licensing screens in the United States, the United Kingdom, Germany, France, Italy and Spain, among other markets. Markets are agreed at scoping and follow where the licensee plans to sell, because customer demand and execution risk differ by country. Recent Nextyn work includes expert and customer interviews in Mexico that tested the clinical relevance, commercial potential and execution risk of shortlisted oncology and diagnostics assets.

Nextyn recommends an asset screen once a business development team has a shortlist and before full diligence is commissioned on any candidate. At that point the screen removes weak candidates before they consume diligence budget and deal-team time, and gives the strongest ones a list of risks to test before an in-licensing agreement is signed. There are three other triggers for a screen: an inbound partnering offer, a competitive bid for an asset, and a move into a new therapy area.

A Nextyn in-licensing screen runs in four steps, from brief to read-out, and nothing is commissioned until the client approves the plan. The client sees the sample, method and price before any fieldwork, and reads every interview with the Nextyn team at the end.

1. Submit the brief: the shortlist, the therapy area or technology, and the questions that matter most to the deal.
2. Receive a plan within 48 hours: which experts and customers Nextyn will interview, how, and what the work costs.
3. Approve the plan: fieldwork starts only after sign-off.
4. Review the read-out: every interview read together, showing where experts and customers agree, where they conflict and what is still open.

Nextyn sends a research plan within 48 hours of receiving the brief, stating which experts and customers will be interviewed, how, and what the work costs. The plan sets the fieldwork length for the number of candidates and the experts each one needs, so a three-asset screen and a broad partner scan each get their own timeline. Nothing is commissioned until the client approves that plan, and confidentiality terms, including whether the client's identity is disclosed to respondents, are agreed before work starts.

Nextyn's in-licensing screen compares a whole shortlist on clinical promise, customer demand and execution risk before a deal team commits, while full due diligence examines one chosen candidate in depth. The screen decides which candidates earn diligence, and diligence decides whether to sign an in-licensing agreement and on what terms.