Book excerpt: Business Development in the biotechnology and pharmaceutical industries accounts for over $5 billion in licensing deal value per year and much more than that in the value of mergers and acquisitions. Transactions range from licences to patented academic research, to product developments as licences, joint ventures and acquisition of intellectual property rights, and on to collaborations in development and marketing, locally or across the globe. Asset sales, mergers and corporate takeovers are also a part of the business development remit. The scope of the job can be immense, spanning the life-cycle of products from the earliest levels of research to the disposal of residual marketing rights, involving legal regulatory manufacturing, clinical development, sales and marketing and financial aspects. The knowledge and skills required of practitioners must be similarly broad, yet the availability of information for developing a career in business development is sparse. Martin Austin's highly practical guide spans the complete process and is based on his 30 years of experience in the industry and the well-established training programme that he has developed and delivers to pharmaceutical executives from across the world.