Singapore, Sept. 2 -- "Almost every company preparing for a partnering conversation prepares for the wrong gate. The rejection usually happens earlier in the process than founders imagine, and for reasons that have very little to do with the quality of the science."

Most of a partnering conference is devoted to the art of the pitch. This session was devoted to something considerably more useful and much less often discussed: how the pitch gets killed.

Moderated by Millie Nelson, Senior Editor for Partnering & Investment at BioXconomy, the panel assembled the people on the other side of the table. Cynthia Wang, Director of Global Business Development for the Asia-Pacific region at Servier. Fabrizio Conicella, Vice President of the Centre...