Purpose‑driven partnering: choosing programs where our approach makes the greatest impact

Nick Gagnon, Vice President and Head of Late Stage Partnering

Why late-stage partnering demands a clearer lens

Late-stage partnering is unforgiving — high-stakes, capital-intensive, and fiercely competitive. The cost of a poor partnership isn’t just financial; it’s the lost opportunity to advance a program that could have changed patient outcomes but didn’t get the right partner at the right moment.

Without a purpose-driven philosophy, even well-resourced organizations risk chasing novelty over impact and deal volume over value. That is the trap Ipsen is deliberately designed to avoid.

Ipsen’s strategy: purpose as a competitive differentiator

For us, partnering starts with purpose. We focus on impact, asking “is this science truly transformational for patients?” and “are we the right organization to accelerate it?”. Underpinned by this purpose, we apply a filter that is intentionally demanding, looking for strong scientific rationale with the potential to redefine standards of care. That calls for partners who, at their core, share our ambition and conviction, whilst aligning with our therapeutic expertise and infrastructure across Oncology, Rare Diseases, and Neuroscience.

This past year, I have continued to see the clarity of this partnering strategy come to life. The decisions we have taken haven’t always been easy, but we have stood by our principles, ensuring we stayed committed to programs with the highest potential for meaningful patient impact.

The future of biopharma collaborations

The future of partnering lies in intentional, high‑quality decisions. At Ipsen, we’re focused on whether the programs we champion reach patients who need them, and that our involvement meaningfully accelerated that outcome.

Patients don’t feel the impact of the deals we sign — they feel the medicines that reach them. And that is what science with purpose looks like in practice.