Collaborative practices for medicinal chemistry research across the big pharma and not-for-profit interface

•Many global research groups are using collaborative medicinal chemistry to derisk early portfolios.•The opportunities and issues in inter-organizational medicinal chemistry are discussed.•Emerging solutions to enhancing drug discovery by collaboration are presented.

In response to the dual challenges of increasingly risky target portfolios and realignment of traditional pharmaceutical company resources away from early-phase research and development (R&D), research groups have sought to engage across the industrial and not-for-profit divide, resulting in the emergence of many different collaborative models. Here, we describe two successful collaborations based upon shared commitment and risk. The risks and complexities of external collaboration can be mitigated by appropriate agreements and tools, but we found that it remains essential that the collaborating scientists adopt a collaborative mindset and embrace the diverse ways of working of partner organizations.