How Biopharma Competitors Can Collaborate – and Win
The biopharma industry thrives on collaboration. Whether co-developing breakthrough therapies or solving global health challenges, partnerships between competitors have become essential to driving innovation and impact. But while forming alliances is easy, sustaining them – and turning them into success stories—requires more than strategy and resources – the secret lies in something deeper: aligning mindsets, beliefs, and values.
When competitors align not only their strategies but also their values, the results can be game-changing. However, for every success, there are alliances that falter. Often, it’s not the vision or the mission that’s the problem – it’s the failure to align the underlying mindsets and ways of working.
Take the example of a biopharma alliance between two top-tier global pharmaceuticals. Despite a promising new drug, the partnership initially struggled. Why? While both organisations shared a vision for success, their teams needed to be more connected on how to achieve it. Differing priorities, leadership styles, and cultural norms created silos and stalled progress.
The solution wasn’t more resources or restructured strategies—it was a shift in mindset. By helping the team redefine their identity as a unified alliance rather than representatives of separate organisations, we helped them build trust, strengthened collaboration, and turned a struggling $1 billion brand into a projected $5 billion success – in just six months.
Every alliance begins with differences – that’s the point. Collaboration is about leveraging complementary strengths. But without alignment, those differences can quickly turn into liabilities. Here are three critical areas where alignment drives success:
1. Celebrate Differences, Build Unity: Diversity of expertise and perspectives is the value-add of alliances, but teams need a shared purpose to stay cohesive.
2. Foster Trust: Trust isn’t optional. It’s the foundation that allows teams to navigate conflicts constructively and focus on shared goals.
3. Create a Unified Identity: A “one alliance” mindset ensures collaboration feels like a partnership – not a tug-of-war between competing interests.
It’s not enough to align values and beliefs once. Alliances evolve: leaders change, priorities shift, and teams turn over. To stay on track, leaders need to check and revisit alignment throughout the alliance lifecycle.
In the case of our two global pharma companies, leadership changes brought new ways of working that risked undoing earlier progress. By helping the new team rebuild trust and recommit to a unified purpose, the alliance sustained its success and continued to outperform expectations.
For leaders navigating complex alliances, here’s what works:
1. Celebrate Differences Focus on Unity: Leverage diverse strengths while aligning on shared goals.
2. Build – and Rebuild – Trust: Trust is an ongoing process, not a one-time achievement.
3. Align Mindsets, Beliefs, and Values: Shared values create the foundation for long-term collaboration.
4. Invest in Leadership and Communication: Strong leadership keeps alliances on track, even during conflicts.
5. Commit to Continuous Alignment: Revisit your shared purpose regularly to adapt to change.
Collaboration between competitors isn’t just a strategy – it’s a mindset. By aligning mindsets, beliefs, and values, biopharma organisations can unlock the full potential of their alliances and achieve results far beyond expectations.
The message is clear: when done right, collaboration doesn’t just help organisations survive – it helps them thrive.
Specialists in the human side of change, we partner with leading life science organisations to deliver deep change and cultural transformation.