Law360, New York (December 17, 2014, 12:50 PM EST) -- In recent years, big pharmaceutical companies have looked to outsource some of their more innovative and risky research and development activities as they focus efforts on their core strengths of later-stage drug development, regulatory approvals and product commercialization. Early-stage biotech companies have always needed a lot of money to finance high-risk discovery, development and regulatory approvals. While many biotech founders and investors believe their scientific efforts will generate substantial value, big pharma is often unwilling to pay significant sums to acquire products before significant derisking is undertaken. To bridge this gap, big pharma and early-stage biotech companies have turned to option deals to accomplish their respective goals....