Developing a ‘Bench to Bedside’ Commercial Collaboration

1. Developing a ‘Bench to Bedside’ Commercial Collaboration Jo Chambers

2. Birmingham Health Partners ITM

3. Institute of Translational Medicine (ITM)Birmingham, UK • £12m Government funding for new Institute of Translational Medicine • University and Hospital to match the capital funding - £24m scheme • Basic research and scientific discovery • Clinical trials – big patient cohorts • Industry collaborations and commercialisation • Economic growth and high-value job creation over next 5 years+ • Patient benefits • Co-location of activities speeds up the cycle of discovery, trials and commercial mainstreaming PATIENT/ POP’N HEALTH BASIC RESEARCH EFFECTIVENESS/ POLICYDEVELOPMENT/ IMPLEMENTATION CLINICAL OBSERVATIONS/ EXPERIMENTAL- EARLY PHASE STUDIES Patients CLINICAL TRIALS

4. Problem Definition • ITM based on 3 concepts: • Community - bringing clinicians, academics and industry partners together • Capacity -developing state of the art research and education facilities • Commercial - creating a single portal for industry collaborations; a ‘Commercial Hub’ The Problem is: There was no agreement about how the new ‘Commercial Hub’ will work to support the strategy of creating a viable ITM in Birmingham.

5. Objectives • Overall objective – to develop a common statement of purpose and guiding principles for the Commercial Hub that all key stakeholders can sign up to, from which a viable commercial framework can be developed. • Within timescale for the Yale- SEPT Programme: • By 31.5.13 Scope stakeholder views and aspirations • By 30.6.13 Draft a discussion document proposing a way forward that satisfies researchers, clinical academics and business partners, and achieves financial viability

6. Root Cause Analysis Key Findings • High-level agreement on the ITM concept of co-location BUT, different perspectives, needs and expectations from stakeholders and partners. • Different perspectives not explicitly addressed in the overall strategy and no agreed mutual goals, leading to the view that “people were going off and doing their own thing”. • Lack of clarity about how to optimise the opportunity of the ITM.

7. Problem-Solving Strategy • The Root Cause Analysis identified a potential risk to the success of the ITM through lack of clearly agreed mutual goals; this must be addressed as a priority • Different perspectives have been constructively surfaced so build on that positive, open climate • acknowledge the legitimacy of the differences • Develop a coherent statement of overall purpose that will provide a framework for all supporting strategies, such as Research and Development, Education and Training/ courses conferences and the ‘Commercial Hub’ concept • Return to the original problem and establish a commercial framework for the Commercial Hub

8. Next Steps – Implementation Plan

9. Evaluation Process Measures Outcome Measures Overall purpose of ITM agreed by all partners Strategic objectives/ mutual goals agreed ‘Operating Principles’ agreed Commercial Framework agreed Collaborative style of working exists Industry partners choose the ITM as the primary collaborative vehicle for new product development • Initiate formal project workstreams • Develop agreed work programme to include time for relevant discussions • Develop framework documents based on discussions • Seek collective solutions by referring matters to the overall Project Group • Ensure ITM commissioning plan adheres to timetable

10. Reflections and Learning • The problem solving process identified a different problem that had not received sufficient explicit attention and required resolution first – be clear about the problem • There were unstated ‘taken for granted’ assumptions and aspirations that were not aligned across a complex stakeholder landscape – confirm expectations of group members • Leadership in this context is not hierarchical; partners are choosing to collaborate and each party needs something out of the arrangement – facilitative leadership and relationship management is required • The leadership ‘team’ for the ITM is still forming and this will be drawn from various organisations – effort needs to go into building trust and confidence, and establish normative behaviours in the group • We have avoided becoming ‘accidental adversaries’ because of this project - I have learnt not to make assumptions but to ask questions and seek clarification before launching into a new project.