Money for nothing? Risks in biopharmaceutical companies from the perspective of public financiers

Abstract

The risks faced by biopharmaceutical companies during the process of drug development are multifaceted and complicated. Furthermore, resource intensiveness and the long time perspective force them to rely on external finance. This study describes the risks in the industry along the biopharmaceutical development process and evaluates how public investors take these risks into account in their investment decisions. The empirical study focuses on Finnish public investors. The data consists of both interviews and secondary sources. Biopharmaceutical development is divided into three stages (discovery, development and commercialisation), and the main risks at each stage are identified. The results show that the risk the investors are willing to take is reflected in the stage of the product development process they invest in. Finnish public investors tend to avoid taking commercial risks and thus invest in the early stages of development where there are mainly technical risks involved. They are increasingly emphasising risk management, and they are also keener to emphasise the importance of commercialisation. Paradoxically, however, commercialisation efforts are generally not supported financially.