Crowdsourcing: friend or foe of KM?

Reaching out to external resources to find cures

Leo Pharma carried forward its interest in reaching out to external resources by founding a new service, Leo Pharma Open Innovation, a collaborative approach to research that provides free testing of compounds for potential partners and competitors alike.

“The participants own the data,” explains Niclas Nilsson, head of open innovation at LEO Pharma, “and they can end the relationship at any time.” The service cuts through the legal obstacles of collaboration by managing ownership of intellectual property (IP), non-disclosure agreements (NDAs) and other ?contractual matters.

“These negotiations can take a long time,” adds Nilsson, “and our service removes that burden. By expanding to interact with a larger group of scientists, we can expedite the research process and tap into each other’s knowledge systems, to the ultimate benefit of patients who need cures.”