By Pamela Rodriguez
From early research through development and commercialization collaborations, can one alliance manager do it all?
They say if you’ve seen one alliance, you’ve seen one alliance, and I’ve found that to be the case. This certainly holds true for later stage alliances, but even among early-stage research alliances, not all are created equal. For co-development/co-commercialization alliances, these differences multiply.
So, is it realistic to expect one individual alliance manager to navigate alliances across the entire biopharma product lifecycle?
I’ve had the opportunity to work on all types of alliances, so I’m here to say: It can be done! But with a few important caveats…
Early-stage alliances
Managing any alliance requires certain key qualities and abilities, as well as a grounding in some core alliance principles. Alliance professionals should possess these qualities and apply these principles to some degree, and as the alliance necessitates, regardless of the type of alliance we’re working on. But there are obviously differences in how we approach these principles, especially in the early-stage collaborations versus those whose focus is development and commercialization.
From a scientist’s point of view, the early-research collaboration is all about discovery and scientific findings. For a smaller biotech company, having a partnership at this stage may be of significant value to them; it may be their only major collaboration, so a lot is riding on its success. For a larger biopharma company, it’s likely one of many, and beyond generating data that de-risks science for advancing assets, the goal is equally to deliver sustainable long-term growth for an entire portfolio of assets, balancing risks and ROI.
For those of us working at a larger biopharma company, this may also represent an opportunity for mutual exchange. Smaller biotech partners often bring deeper early-research experience in an area we are exploring together, while we bring experience navigating the complexities of later-stage drug development: what we’ve done, what we’ve learned, what we’ve found that worked and what didn’t. Since our collective objective is to develop drugs that will help patients, it’s a moment for knowledge sharing, and for refining our path forward in the collaboration. Do we keep going? Do we shift direction and pivot? Do we need to terminate the program as “cleanly” and quickly as we can?
This is where our core alliance principles come in. There may be fewer governance committees in an early-stage alliance, such as a Joint Steering Committee (JSC) or a Joint Research Committee (JRC), but there are many more informal touchpoints outside of governance that enable progression of the science. Most important, we have many more frequent meetings with our early-stage partners, often centered on themes like: Where are we in the research plan for this alliance? What direction is the scientific data leading us in? What scientific milestones and decisions are on the horizon? What potential challenges might we face in advancing the program preclinically? In an alliance at this stage, data-driven, transparent scientific discussions, along with communication that is sometimes daily, keep us aligned, clarify where the science stands, and build deeper trust between the partners.
Late-stage and co-development/co-commercialization alliances
In managing later-stage, co-development/co-commercialization (“co-co”) alliances, the core principles of leading an alliance remain the same. But my experience has been that there are many governance committees shaped by a multitude of cross-functional teams, at times more rigidity in the structure, and a far more diverse spectrum of personalities. And the alliance manager sits at the intersection of it all.
In a co-co, the governance structure typically spans multiple joint committees—development, manufacturing, commercial, finance, compliance, IP, and steering or executive, to name a few. For the alliance manager, there’s an added level of complexity in making sure you’re on top of what’s happening across all of these committees. In fact, a single alliance may require multiple alliance managers to cover the full governance structure, which makes staying connected and aware across the entire governance structure even more critical.
You also need to be able to speak the language of the various functions you are working with: finance, manufacturing, clinical development, regulatory, clinical operations, marketing, market access, etc. You don’t need to be the expert in all these functions—and you won’t be—but you need to be conversant with the terminology, required deliverables, and the challenges and concerns of those functions.
During launch periods, there is a heightened level of urgency to meet launch timelines, and as alliance managers, we have to help the team move faster collectively without sacrificing joint alignment. Frameworks must be established to enable internal decision-making and consensus-building, so that when you engage your partner, you can swiftly and efficiently make those decisions together.
Working at this speed, it’s important to remember that we’re still collaborating: It’s the alliance manager’s job to remind everyone that we’re making joint decisions, respecting our contractual obligations, and working toward the achievement of the alliance goals while maintaining a positive relationship with the partner. There will be periods of tension, especially when there’s misalignment or miscommunication, so we need to consistently maintain trust and transparency, and proactively build a strong working relationship in order to maximize success.
Core alliance principles
Having laid out some of the differences when managing various types and stages of alliances, it is imperative to point out the commonalities. For me, across the broad spectrum of alliances, the following are some of the core principles that have proven to be key:
- Building and maintaining relationships. This is the heart of what we do as alliance managers. It is essential for both external and internal stakeholders and includes how we design alliance kickoff meetings and how we onboard new members—not just explaining the alliance objectives and contractual obligations, but also what are the “ground rules” when working in a collaboration. What are the norms and collaborative behaviors expected in this relationship, and how do we work together to maintain the alliance health? How do we measure success?
- Honest, transparent, and frequent communication. This may seem obvious due to the nature of our role as alliance managers, but I have seen that one of the first things that contribute to misalignment is breakdown of communication. To counter this, we must share updates proactively, not just when things are going well, but also when challenges arise or when there is uncertainty. It means creating an environment where both parties feel comfortable raising concerns early, before they escalate into larger issues. Timely and open communication keeps everyone informed and aligned, enables better joint decision-making, and prevents misalignment from quietly taking root. Perhaps most importantly, it builds a sense of camaraderie with your partner because you are both working toward the same goal in a timely manner. My north star is aligned with my company’s core principle of “bringing innovative medicines to patients faster.”
- Trust. The alliance manager must bring credibility and trust from the start and be trustworthy. Our stakeholders may not always like every message we deliver, but we can have those necessary, challenging, even uncomfortable conversations because of the credibility we’ve built and because others know we have the alliance’s best interests at heart. This paves the way to ensure effective consensus-building and timely decision-making. Trust also enables alliance counterparts to respect each other and the contract, especially when ambiguity leads to potentially differing interpretations.
- Proactively manage challenges. Problems tend to move faster than solutions. So being able to get ahead of them and foresee any potential conflict that may arise goes a long way toward avoiding or lessening them, defusing tension and friction, minimizing escalations, and keeping the alliance from going off the rails and delaying outcomes. Governance mechanisms exist to address issues once they surface, but proactively identifying situations that might lead to conflict enables the teams to maintain strategic focus.
As complexity and speed increase in alliances, the value of alliance managers becomes even more critical: people with high emotional intelligence, business savvy, an enterprise mindset, and the ability to work in ambiguity. The ideal alliance manager is someone who can connect the right people when needed, fit the right pieces of the puzzle together, and makes sure that nothing falls through the cracks, so we keep moving forward...for patients first.
Can it be done?
Is it realistic for one alliance manager to work across the whole spectrum of biopharma alliances? My answer is yes—if certain things are in place. It requires organizational and leadership support, which happily my company provides, and both the right individual and enterprise mindsets.
It’s 100 percent doable if you set it up right. If an alliance manager has experience only in research alliances, my company sets them up for success by having them support another alliance manager who’s leading a later-stage alliance. That way, they can start learning how that type of collaboration works. With the right support system, and the right individual mentality—“This is what I want to do, it’s great for my development, and I’m excited to learn and grow”—it can work.
As someone who thrives on learning new things every day, I have found that alliance management is a profession of continuous learning and development. There’s always something new in an alliance that most may not have experienced. It comes up frequently across all alliances: “Have you ever done this before?” “Nope, never. Let’s figure out how to do it.”
We are fortunate and uniquely positioned as alliance managers to contribute to the strategic growth of our companies. Being able to lead alliances across the product lifecycle—from Research to Development to Commercialization—enables us to influence and create value for both partners and patients.
Pamela Rodriguez, PhD, is director of global alliances at Bristol Myers Squibb.
About the alliance leadership spotlight series
The alliance leadership spotlight series is a joint initiative of The Association of Strategic Alliance Professionals (ASAP) and allianceboard to share practical knowledge in the alliance management community. It showcases Alliance Management professionals taking the lead in addressing challenges and driving alliance success.
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