Consulting

Business Development & Licensing

Specialist consulting support to help teams navigate complex BD&L decisions with clarity and confidence

Why choose Evaluate?

Data-Driven Foundation

Norstella-wide data and insights power evidence-based portfolio decisions.

Flexible Engagements

Modular offerings scale to client needs, scope, and budget.

Proven Biopharma Expertise

Decades of experience guiding portfolio strategy across asset sizes.

Actionable Outcomes

Integrated qualitative and quantitative methods drive confident investment decisions.

Our experts partner with clients to address business questions throughout the BD&L process.

They streamline decision-making to build commercially-focused pipelines and address the balance between internal and external innovation.

We help with:

  • In-licensing candidate long list generation and prioritization
  • Out-licensing partner identification, prioritization and outreach
  • Asset valuation and due diligence
  • Innovation trends analysis
  • Pipeline tracking and competitor monitoring

BD&L Services

Objective insight to support confident buy-side business development and licensing decisions.

In today’s complex and fast-moving market, making the right buy-side decisions requires more than internal perspectives alone. Our team provides independent, data-driven guidance to support asset search, screening, and evaluation across every stage of the buy-side journey. From early opportunity identification through rapid diligence and go or no-go decisions, we deliver the clarity and objectivity needed to move forward with confidence.

Questions we help to answer:

  • Which assets or companies best align with our strategic priorities for growth?

  • How do we ensure we are casting a wide net when searching for BD and licensing opportunities?

  • Which opportunities stand out based on commercial potential, competitive context, and strategic fit?

  • When should we bring in third-party insight to validate our thinking and de-risk decisions?

Evidence-based insight to strengthen sell-side strategy, positioning, and partnering outcomes.

Whether you are preparing for early partnering discussions, refining your value story, or navigating due diligence with potential partners, our team provides the objective insight you need to support confident sell-side execution. Through data-driven partner search, positioning, and commercial assessment, we help you validate assumptions, articulate value clearly, and engage the right partners at the right time.

Questions we help to answer:

  • Which partners are the best strategic fit for our asset or company?

  • How do we ensure we identify and screen all potentially attractive partnering opportunities?

  • How should we position our asset to demonstrate differentiation and commercial value?

  • How can objective, third-party insight strengthen our pitch, diligence discussions, and valuation assumptions?

Have a bespoke requirement?

Every strategic challenge is different. If you need to answer a unique commercial question or need tailored support beyond standard solutions, our consulting team will work with you to design an approach that fits your objectives, timelines, and data needs.

Meet your BD consultants

Our experts will help you identify the tools and insights that support your strategic, commercial, or investment priorities.

Ben Folwell, PhD

Director & Business Development & Licensing Lead

Ben specializes in quantitative analysis, leading projects covering buy and sell side due diligence, deal benchmarking, pipeline tracking, competitor analysis and product forecasting across a broad range of indications and markets, with an increasing focus on rare diseases. Recent work has included building prioritization models that can be used to identify in-licensing opportunities, out licensing partners, attractive indications, or technologies.​ Ben has authored multiple peer-reviewed journal articles and industry standard guideline documents.

Paul Verdin, PhD

Senior Vice President and Head of Consulting & Analytics

Paul leads the Evaluate’s consulting and analytics business, overseeing strategic advisory engagements across portfolio strategy, asset strategy, competitive intelligence, forecasting, valuation, and BD&L, working with clients across the global pharma and biotech ecosystem.

Paul brings extensive experience spanning academic research and life sciences consulting, supporting organizations ranging from early-stage biotech companies to large pharmaceutical corporate strategy teams. His work focuses on helping clients make evidence-based decisions across the product lifecycle, from pipeline prioritization through to commercial strategy and investment decision-making.

Consultant perspectives, on demand

Hear directly from our consulting experts on how we work with clients, approach complex challenges, and deliver insight‑led support across the commercial lifecycle.

Latest Resources

Ready to see how Evaluate can help you make smarter decisions?

Get in touch with our team to explore the right solutions for your business.