LES membership carries with it many great benefits. From networking to education to mentorship, this society has much to offer licensing professionals at all stages of their careers. We are particularly proud of the Royalty Rates and Deal Terms Surveys that the team produces, which provide immense value to organizations across industries and help inform their efforts to protect and price intellectual property. As such, we’re delighted to share that the LES Global Life Sciences Royalty Rates and Deal Terms Survey – 2021 is now available for purchase and general use.
This survey was produced in conjunction with the Licensing Executive Society International (LESI) and was made possible by our generous sponsors, Howard Hughes Medical Institute Janelia Research Campus and Ballard Spahr, LLP. The survey also depended on the efforts of each LES survey contributor. Last year, we asked for public input to populate the survey with recent actual deal data, and the community stepped up. During the input period, we received 116 complete responses for analysis and inclusion in this report. It is this data that make the surveys useful, and we thank all participants for their time and effort. Thank you as well to Vault Consulting, the firm commissioned to conduct the survey, for its professional execution.
A History of Strong Participation
The first Life Sciences Survey was published in 2008 and helped shape the format, content and execution of future LES surveys. The survey has been conducted bi-annually since then, with the 2020 edition pushed out to this year due to the pandemic. Over the course of the now seven published Life Sciences Surveys, there have been 921 effective deal samples collected. This high level of input represents the largest sample size accumulated among all LES USA and Canada surveys and helps produce a robust benchmarking tool for IP and licensing professionals.
Ongoing Value
The data generated from this year’s surveys will be added to historical data from past surveys to provide LES members with not only an update on the current trends in the market, but also a retrospective look at how licensing practices have changed over the years. The analyzed data emphasize therapeutics deals, evenly split between small-molecule and biologics. We found strong representation in oncology, CNS, and ophthalmology, among other fields, with details on both flat and tiered royalty structures and insights on upfront payments across applications and stages. Masterful analysis from Sean Sheridan and colleagues at Charles River and Associates shows consistent trends within categories across surveys going back to 2008 and provides further insights in diagnostic and non-human applications. These multi-national surveys have long served as a trusted resource for economic benchmarks defining life sciences deals. The survey reports help explain how licensing deals are structured and why, and they also show the rationale behind the licensing of parties and what specific licensing features are chosen and used. This information provides a valuable benchmarking tool that IP and licensing professionals depend on to deliver value to their organizations. Use of the survey information also extends to lawyers, corporate finance and investment professionals, and beyond.
This year’s LES Global Life Sciences Royalty Rates and Deal Terms Survey can be downloaded for free by LES members. Non-members can purchase the report for a one-time fee of $795.
Considering LES membership? Now is a great time to join. Gain access to our new survey and myriad other LES membership benefits with an annual fee of just $395 ($195 annually for emerging leaders).
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About Michael Perham
Michael Perham, LES Board of Director, Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Janelia Research Campus
Mike Perham has been a member of LES since 2009, having served multiple roles on Annual Meeting Committees, the Life Science Sector leadership team, and the Young Members Council. He is currently Chair-elect of the Life Science Sector.
Mike is currently the Director, Innovations and External Relations at the Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Janelia Research Campus, overseeing technology transfer, open science, external relations and library services. His experience includes roles in technology transfer and IP management at UTMB, the University of Virginia, a startup called Microlab Diagnostics, and Health Diagnostic Laboratory. He has spent the last 12 years negotiating and managing a wide variety of out- and in-licensing agreements, Intellectual Property rights transfers from open-source to collaborative development arrangements, managing IP portfolios and leading litigation efforts.
He studied Chemistry at the University of Texas and received a PhD in Biophysical chemistry from Rice University where he was an NIH Biotechnology Trainee and Keck Fellow in the Houston-Area Molecular Biophysics Program.