Business Development and Licensing Manager

Basildon, Essex; London or Barcelona, Spain

Salary: Competitive + Benefits + Bonus

If you are an agile, committed, and experienced corporate development professional with exceptional negotiation skills and strong licensing experience, then we want to hear from you!

Join us to help improve peoples’ lives and make healthcare better for everyone!

Why Pharmanovia?

Pharmanovia is a dynamic, fast-growing international pharmaceutical company with a portfolio of over 20 brands across more than 160 markets. Our mission is to improve patient health globally through the revitalisation of niche, tried-and-trusted medicines.

Our core behaviours are:

• We act decisively but we never compromise on quality.
• We keep our promises and do as we say.
• We value our heritage and foster an entrepreneurial spirit.
• We reinvest in our future – in our products, our brands and our people.
• We give back to our communities.

Since its inception in 2013, Pharmanovia has grown consistently year on year, focusing on delivering high-quality branded prescription medicines to patients, prescribers, and healthcare providers across the world. Our growth has enabled the company to reinvest in its products, brands, people, and to give back to its communities. A people business with a strong, supportive culture that encourages innovation and entrepreneurial spirit, our team comprises over 300 employees and 29 nationalities, operating from offices in the UK, Denmark, Netherlands, Switzerland, U.A.E., India, Singapore, Italy, Spain, and South Korea.

We are an agile, committed, and innovative global specialty pharma business and a preferred partner for innovator pharma companies, instigating a paradigm shift in the life cycle management of iconic medicines. We seek to extensively engage with clinical communities to communicate product improvements and prioritise environmental, social, and governance considerations across the business and workforce.

Pharmanovia’s therapeutic areas include Cardiovascular, Oncology, Endocrinology and Neurology.

About the role:

Reporting to the Licensing Director, you will be a highly visible member of the Corporate Development team, providing first-rate representation of the company, and building on our existing credibility, to position Pharmanovia as a global partner of choice for innovative, orphan and value-add medicines.  You will work to identify new opportunities and support the development of a profitable and sustainable pipeline that can deliver 3 to 5 new product launches per year.

Opportunities can take the form of licensing (in/out), co-development or distribution deals and you will have complete ownership of each assigned transaction for the entire life cycle of the deal. From developing the deal thesis used to gain board approval, to planning the operational handover following completion. 

This is an exciting fast-paced role that will have you working with counterparties from San Francisco to Tokyo (and everywhere in between), as well providing you with a unique opportunity to manage and develop a team of licensing professionals and work alongside some of the world’s leading advisory practices and consultants.

The department has an ethos of continuous improvement, refining systems and creating efficiencies. This, along with the rapid growth of the business, leads to a varied and dynamic working environment.

Main responsibilities & duties:

• Ownership of licensing transactions across our global business with responsibility for their evaluation, negotiation, and progression through to deal completion and business handover;
• Seek out and introduce strategically aligned assets that have high growth potential and are suitable for Pharmanovia’s current/future business infrastructure;
• Meet with licensing partners, biotech developers, brokers and CMOs to present Pharmanovia as a partner of choice and to discover the best pipeline opportunities;
• Lead external interactions with deal counterparties, including deal discussions, negotiations, and capability presentations;
• Partner with CIU (Central Investment Unit) to develop a robust evidence-based business case for each opportunity and impactful board papers that clearly explain and justify the investment case;
• Coordinate internal and external diligence teams; appoint and oversee third-party consultants and advisors, to supplement our outputs;
• Partner with in-house legal to develop deal legal documentation – term sheet through to definitive agreements;
• Present new opportunities at monthly shortlisting and pipeline committee meetings;
• Work with marketing and communications to continually enhance external B2B marketing material;
• Regularly interact with senior stakeholders and keep management apprised of deal progress and decision points;
• Represent Pharmanovia at external meetings, conferences, seminars to access new opportunities and to develop our external network. May serve as Pharmanovia’s representative at such events.

About you:

Candidates with at least 5 years’ experience in pharmaceutical business development and licensing, along with management experience, are likely to have the skills required to be successful in this role. We are also looking for:

• Bachelor’s degree level education in a relevant field, ideally with further qualifications
• 3+ years’ business development & licensing experience
• 5+ years of pharmaceutical sector experience
• Commercially astute and entrepreneurial, with strong financial awareness
• Track record of successful licensing deals (ideally with NCEs)
• Passion for negotiation and deal-making
• Good working knowledge of IP, regulatory and product development in pharmaceuticals
• Experience working with cross-functional teams; able to lead via influence vs. line authority
• Ability to multi-task, prioritise and deliver in a high-pressured environment 
• Very strong oral and written communication skills
• Able to build rapport with global multi-cultural teams and partners
• Excellent critical thinking skills; able to make quantitative and qualitative assessments and recommend what is best for Pharmanovia
• High professional standards
• Flexibility for occasional travel for conferences, site visits and partner meetings

What we offer:

We offer a competitive salary plus bonus and rewards package including holiday, health & wellbeing program, employee recognition awards, social events, pension scheme and hybrid working.

 By applying for this role, your details will be sent to Ortolan People, who are acting as consultants for the hiring company. Ortolan People are engaged to provide recruitment support in processing applications. We will endeavour to respond to all applicants within three working days. Occasionally for roles with a very high volume of applicants, this may not be possible.