Biotech & Pharma Business Development
Buy-side and sell-side BD support for pharma, biotech, and investors: from asset scouting and due diligence through valuations, partnering, and deal close.
We work across the full BD lifecycle, asset scouting and in-licensing, technical and commercial due diligence, valuations, out-licensing and partnering, deal negotiation support, and academic commercialization, for pharma and biotech companies at every stage, life science investors, and research institutions.
Many of our clients are early-stage or virtual biotechs where leaders are wearing multiple hats: a CMC specialist now responsible for partnering, a clinical development lead navigating their first fundraise. They need experienced BD support without building a full internal team. And many engagements combine multiple disciplines: a scouting engagement leads to DD on a shortlisted target, which leads to a valuation to support negotiations. Having one firm with depth across all of these reduces handoff risk and accelerates decision-making.
Why the right BD partner matters
Buy-side: ensuring risk is accurately assessed across clinical, regulatory, CMC, commercial, and IP dimensions so you have a clear basis for a go/no-go decision and confidence that the deal is priced appropriately
Sell-side: positioning your asset to achieve the highest value with the right partner, and ensuring there are no surprises when their DD team arrives
Investor: investing in a program with a clear understanding of its true risk profile, without hidden challenges that surface after you've committed capital
Our Business Development Services
Five interconnected service lines spanning the full BD lifecycle.
In-Licensing & Asset Scouting
Systematic identification of licensing and acquisition targets that match your strategic criteria. We work alongside your internal BD team, or operate as an extension of it, to surface opportunities not yet visible in pipeline databases. Engagements range from targeted therapeutic area searches to multi-year retained partnerships.
Engaged by pharma companies supplementing internal scouting capacity, biotechs seeking complementary pipeline assets to strengthen a fundraising story, and investors surveying a therapeutic landscape before committing to a thesis. We scout across geographies, with particular strength in US-Europe cross-border work.
Learn more about in-licensing & asset scouting →Due Diligence
Comprehensive technical and commercial assessments that give you the full picture before making a transaction decision. Our DD teams are assembled for precise relevance. An oncology gene therapy gets evaluated by oncology and gene therapy development experts, not generalists. We can mobilize quickly for competitive situations and deliver expedited assessments when deal timelines require it.
Clients range from large pharma evaluating in-licensing candidates to VCs conducting early-stage investment DD to PE firms assessing later-stage acquisitions.
Learn more about due diligence →Pharma & Biotech Valuations
Independent, model-driven valuations grounded in development reality. We build valuations that reflect actual development costs, timelines, and probabilities of success, informed by our consultants' firsthand experience running clinical programs and managing regulatory submissions.
Used by pharma BD teams setting deal terms, biotechs establishing negotiating positions, investors sizing portfolio opportunities, and boards requiring independent valuation opinions.
Learn more about valuations →Out-Licensing, Partnering & Deal-Making
End-to-end support for companies seeking licensing partners, preparing for transactions, or navigating deal negotiations. This is a core area of our practice, particularly for early-stage and growth-stage biotechs. On the sell side, we handle the full out-licensing process from preparation through close. On the buy side, we help pharma and biotech companies structure deals, assess term sheets, and evaluate competitive bids. Our consultants understand what both sides of a transaction look for. Many have led BD functions or negotiated licensing deals themselves.
Engaged by biotechs preparing their first licensing deal, companies managing multi-party competitive processes, pharma teams structuring in-licensing terms, and investors supporting portfolio companies through partnering.
Learn more about out-licensing & deal-making →Academic Commercialization
Turning academic research programs into investable opportunities. Having worked with 40+ universities globally, and simultaneously serving pharma, biotech, and investor clients, we bring real-time insight into what licensees and VCs are actually looking for and what will survive their scrutiny.
Engaged by technology transfer offices managing large disclosure portfolios, research groups preparing specific programs for industry engagement, and university leadership evaluating commercialization strategy across departments.
Learn more about academic commercialization →Why Alacrita for Business Development
Our BD engagements draw on a network of specialist consultants who bring direct operational experience in the disciplines that matter for each transaction: clinical development, regulatory affairs, CMC, commercial strategy, and more. When they assess clinical data, evaluate a regulatory pathway, or review manufacturing readiness, the work is informed by people who have held those roles and done that work themselves. That combination of rigorous analysis and firsthand operational judgment is what sets the work apart.
Clients frequently engage us for a specific service: a DD assignment, a valuation, a scouting project. Our capabilities across the full BD lifecycle allow engagements to expand naturally when the situation calls for it. A scouting project surfaces a promising target, and the client asks us to conduct DD on the shortlist. The DD findings feed directly into a valuation model. On the sell side, a mock DD engagement evolves into full partnering support. Having one firm with context across these stages means less rework and fewer handoffs when the scope grows. It also means we can help with what comes after the deal: our clinical, regulatory, and CMC teams can pick up where the BD engagement leaves off.
Who Engages Us
Early-Stage & Virtual Biotechs
A core client segment. Many of our biotech clients are lean teams where leaders have deep technical expertise but are taking on BD responsibilities for the first time: a CMC specialist now responsible for finding a manufacturing partner, a clinical lead navigating their first licensing discussion. We provide the BD experience and process so they can focus on the science. From data room preparation and mock DD through partner identification, valuation, and deal close. If you're also preparing for fundraising, see our Investor Services.
Pharma BD Teams
Supplementing internal BD capacity with targeted scouting, DD, and valuation support. Many pharma clients engage us on a retained basis across multiple engagements per year, or maintain an ongoing scouting function across specific therapeutic areas and geographies.
Life Science Investors
Technical due diligence and independent valuations for VCs, PE firms, family offices, pension funds, and accelerators. We calibrate depth and language to the audience: scientific thesis validation for early-stage VCs, commercial viability assessments for later-stage PE, and investment committee-ready reports for institutional investors. See also our dedicated Investor Services page.
Universities & TTOs
Commercialization strategy, technology evaluation, development planning, and licensing support for research programs. We've worked with 40+ universities globally, bringing real-time insight into what industry licensees and investors are looking for. Engagements range from single-disclosure evaluations to ongoing portfolio prioritization.
Business Development Case Studies
Pre-Due Diligence Assessment of First-in-Class Allergy Therapeutic
Strategic Partnership Assessment of Autoimmune Drug Development Program
Pre-Due Diligence Assessment of a Women's Health Biotech Partnership
Due Diligence of an Academic Adenovirus Gene-Therapy Program
Insights & Perspectives
What Kills Deals vs. What's Negotiable
A practical framework for DD prioritization and risk categorization.
Read more Due DiligenceRisk vs. Uncertainty in Biotech Due Diligence
Why standard PoS frameworks break down for novel modalities.
Read more PartneringPlanning for Pharma Partnering
Target Licensing Profiles, mock DD timing, and optimal partnering windows.
Read more Asset ScoutingWhy Every Biotech Needs a Scouting Function
How systematic scouting builds pipeline value and drives higher exit valuations.
Read more Academic CommercializationKiller Experiments in Technology Transfer
Designing experiments that answer the questions industry needs before engaging.
Read moreCommon Questions
How is Alacrita's BD consulting different from a boutique advisory or investment bank?
+Alacrita is a life sciences consulting firm whose BD consultants have actually developed, regulated, and commercialized products in the therapeutic areas and modalities they now assess. Due diligence is conducted by former CMOs, regulatory leaders, and CMC heads with direct experience in the relevant domain. Valuations are built on development assumptions from people who have run clinical programs and managed regulatory submissions. That operational depth is what separates our BD work from firms that approach transactions purely from a financial or strategic perspective.
Can Alacrita support long-term scouting engagements, or only project-based work?
+Both. Many of our scouting clients engage us on retained, multi-year partnerships where we function as an extension of their internal BD team. We also take on targeted, time-limited searches for specific opportunities. Engagements have ranged from focused 3-month searches to retained relationships lasting 8+ years.
What therapeutic areas and modalities do your BD consultants cover?
+Our network spans 22 disease areas and 18 product modalities. We have particular depth in oncology (209 specialists), immunology, CNS, rare diseases, cell and gene therapy, small molecules, and antibodies/ADCs. For any given transaction, we match consultants with direct experience in the relevant science.
How does Alacrita handle confidentiality across BD engagements?
+Every engagement operates under its own confidentiality agreement. Consultant teams are siloed; a consultant working on DD for one client has no visibility into other engagements. Our core team screens for conflicts before accepting any new assignment. If a potential conflict arises (for example, a DD target that is also an existing Alacrita client), we disclose the situation to both parties and either decline the engagement or, if both parties agree to proceed, assign entirely separate teams with no overlapping personnel. We do not accept engagements where we cannot maintain clear separation.
Can Alacrita provide valuations that can be used in board or investor presentations?
+Yes. Our valuation models are built to withstand scrutiny from boards, investment committees, and transaction counterparties. We use risk-adjusted NPV approaches with transparent assumptions, sensitivity analyses, and scenario modeling.
Can Alacrita support both sides of a transaction?
+Not simultaneously. We work for one party per transaction. However, our experience on both buy-side and sell-side engagements means we understand what both parties look for, which strengthens our work regardless of which side we're advising.
Is Alacrita a staffing agency or expert network?
+No. Alacrita is an integrated consulting firm with a permanent core team of senior industry operators who lead engagements and maintain client relationships. That core team draws on a network of 350+ specialist consultants who work for Alacrita, not as independent contractors placed into your organization. Clients contract with Alacrita. We assemble teams, manage engagements, review deliverables, and maintain accountability throughout.
Does Alacrita work with early-stage biotechs and virtual companies?
+Yes. Early-stage and virtual biotechs are a core client segment. Many of our BD clients are lean teams where leaders have deep technical expertise but are taking on BD responsibilities for the first time. We provide experienced BD support across the full process, from data room preparation and mock DD through partner identification, valuation, and deal close, without requiring you to build a full internal BD team.
Tell Us About Your Opportunity
Whether you have a specific transaction in mind or you're exploring options and aren't sure where to start, we're happy to talk. Tell us about your asset, your timeline, and what you're trying to achieve, and we'll help scope the right approach.