Beyond Open Innovation: How to Make Pharma–Biotech Collab Work at Scale

© Mirko Vitali – stock.adobe.com

Pharma companies increasingly use structured open-innovation platforms to access breakthrough science faster. Bayer Co.Lab exemplifies this: a global network of life science incubators giving start-ups labs, infrastructure, and pharma proximity to speed the path to clinic. CHEManager‘s Christene Smith spoke with Ruth Shah, Head of Bayer Co.Lab Berlin, about how the model works, its edge in a competitive incubator landscape, and how it delivers value for start-ups and pharma alike.

CHEManager: What needs to change in how large companies engage with early-stage innovators to make collaborations faster, more effective and genuinely founder-centric?

Ruth Shah: The first shift has to be one of mindset before mechanism. For open innovation to truly work, large companies need to approach early-stage innovators not as acquisition targets or option pools, but as partners who are building something of real, independent value. That means removing the friction that founders feel the moment they engage with a corporate.