New crown jewel valuing patient data

For decades, biotech M&A followed a familiar script. Patents drove value. Molecules closed deals.

That script is breaking.

In today’s precision medicine transactions, the real asset is data. Longitudinal patient records, real-world evidence, and genomic datasets are now central to valuation. But unlike traditional IP, data comes with strings attached. Privacy laws, patient consent, and transfer restrictions can quietly determine whether that data is an asset or a liability.

In this episode of KLF Deep Dive, we explore why clinical data is being treated as the new IP in biotech M&A, how weak consent frameworks can destroy deal value, and what acquirers should be asking during diligence before it’s too late.

If you work in biotech, pharma, corporate development, or private equity, this episode breaks down a risk that is reshaping how deals get priced and structured.

Listen in, and reach out if this issue is sitting inside one of your transactions.

Episode Highlights

• Why patents alone no longer drive biotech valuations
• How precision medicine changed the M&A playbook
• Clinical data as a regulated asset
• Patient consent and data transfer risks
• When valuable datasets become compliance liabilities
• What smart buyers are doing differently in diligence

Transcript

SPEAKER_00: 0:00

Welcome to KLF Deep Dive. For decades, the crown jewel of any biotech acquisition was simple, a patent portfolio. A strong compound, a process, a molecule, that was the value driver. But today, MA is being fundamentally reshaped by precision medicine. A target asset is not just a patent, it's the data that makes the drug work. We're talking about rich, longitudinal patient data, real world evidence, and genomic sequences. This data is the new IP. The critical challenge for deal makers is this. How do you value an asset that is simultaneously proprietary and highly regulated? If the target company has fantastic clinical data but failed to secure bulletproof patient consent, and that's important for MA transfer, that multimillion dollar data set could be a multimillion dollar liability. We're going to dive into this paradox of data as IP. We're going to explore the valuation models that account for privacy risk and look at the due diligence failures that have turned gold standard patient cohorts to worthless compliance headaches. Stay tuned. Call, click, or email.