Strategic Asset Scouting for Portfolio Accretion

A structured, analytics-driven approach to identify and prioritize high-value BD&L opportunities across therapeutic areas

The leadership team of a US-based specialty biopharmaceutical company sought to identify strategically aligned, value-accretive external assets to strengthen and diversify its portfolio.

Driven by a pipeline gap and unclear therapeutic direction, Viscadia developed a structured, insight-driven asset scouting framework and delivered a prioritized shortlist of acquisition and in-licensing candidates to guide portfolio growth.

Challenge

Lack of a Structured Framework for Identifying and Prioritizing Assets

• No structured framework for identifying and prioritizing assets
• Asset identification was largely relationship-driven and reactive, with no systematic way to evaluate competitive intensity or deal feasibility at scale
• Shift needed from opportunistic deal sourcing to structured, TA-led acquisition roadmaps

Fragmented Public Data Sources and Low-Confidence Forecasted Sales

• Fragmented public data sources with low-confidence forecasted sales
• Limited access to historical deal data and subscription-based sources
• Unclear valuation framing for early-stage assets

Diverse Internal Priorities with No Framework for Alignment

• Cross-functional misalignment on prioritization across internal teams
• Manual tracking of potential assets with no scoring framework
• Limited internal bandwidth to conduct comprehensive landscape analysis

Approach

Strategic Alignment

• Mapped the client’s strategic and commercial imperatives to define a clear BD mandate
• Established deal size thresholds and asset criteria aligned with portfolio priorities
• Developed TA Heatmaps to identify the most attractive therapeutic areas for growth
• Aligned cross-functional stakeholders on the scouting framework and decision criteria

Asset Universe

• Assessed 8,000+ assets across multiple therapeutic areas, applying Phase 2+ development stage as the initial screening threshold
• Enriched data via triangulation across 10+ sources including Evaluate, BioMedTracker, ClinicalTrials.gov, and S&P Capital IQ
• Bifurcated the universe into marketed and pipeline assets to enable closer evaluation of drugs across stages of lifecycle
• Developed 10-year forecast for marketed and pipeline assets to understand commercial potential

Viscadia Scoring Engine

• Proprietary multi-dimensional scoring framework evaluating each asset across strategic fit, commercial potential, and deal feasibility
• Integrated clinical, operational, financial, and strategic lenses into scoring construct
• Applied quantitative rigor to traditionally qualitative BD decisions
• Designed sensitivity between dimensions based on client’s priorities

Shortlisting and Prioritization

• Rapid screening against client-aligned exclusion criteria, narrowing 8,000+ assets to a focused pool of ~250 candidates
• Bifurcated the shortlist into marketed and pipeline tracks, recognizing each requires a fundamentally different evaluation lens
• Applied the Viscadia Scoring Engine independently across both sets of shortlisted assets
• Delivered ~30 high-priority marketed assets ready for near-term BD pursuit, and 200+ pipeline assets mapped individually to each marketed asset to create the client’s long-term therapeutic strategy roadmap
• Generated asset-level deep-dive scorecards for the top 30 shortlisted assets and TA Platforms for Growth for the 7 shortlisted therapeutic areas.

Leadership Readout

• Defined a scalable framework for continuous asset shortlisting and evaluation
• Structured outputs designed not just for the immediate BD cycle, but as a reusable framework for future acquisition decisions
• Developed an executive-ready Power BI dashboard alongside TA- and asset-level briefs to facilitate structured leadership review
• Walked the C-suite through the final shortlist across strategic, clinical, operational, and financial lenses
• Iteratively refined the shortlist based on executive input to produce a final BD-ready target list

Outcome

End deliverables

• Executive-ready Power BI dashboard, enabling structured leadership review and go/no-go decision-making
• Prioritized shortlist of ~30 high-priority marketed assets ready for near-term BD pursuit, and 200+ pipeline assets mapped to the client’s long-term therapeutic roadmap
• Asset-level deep-dive scorecards for top 30 assets, providing leadership with a transparent, evidence-based basis for each prioritization decision
• A reusable scouting framework and scoring methodology that the client can deploy for future acquisition cycles

Key highlights

• Screened 8,000+ assets to deliver a focused, actionable shortlist – translating an overwhelming landscape into clear priorities
• Embedded commercial forecasting rigor within the scouting process, grounding asset prioritization in real revenue potential rather than strategic narrative alone
• Applied quantitative scoring to traditionally qualitative BD decisions, enabling like-for-like comparison across a diverse asset universe
• Delivered not just outputs but a repeatable methodology – shifting the client from reactive deal sourcing to a proactive, structured BD capability

Impact

• Shift in leadership’s mindset to asset scouting with a therapeutic strategy and multi-product BD roadmap for long-term portfolio identity
• Leadership entered the JPMorgan Healthcare Conference with a clear, defensible BD pipeline – replacing ad hoc conversations with structured target discussions
• Ongoing deal discussions with 5 potential targets out of the shortlisted 30 assets
• Cross-functional teams aligned around a shared scouting framework and evaluation language for the first time