Shire Pharmaceuticals Group plc is Britain's third-largest pharmaceuticals company, but it doesn't have a team of brainy scientists hunched over test tubes trying to come up with the world's next big blockbuster drug. No, with a market cap of $5 billion (industry leader Pfizer Inc.'s is $198 billion) Shire is a specialty pharma: a company that picks up other companies' inventions, often in smaller niche markets that don't require a gigantic sales force, and carries them through the final regulatory and commercial hurdles.

Arguably, then, the most pivotal person at Shire is the one who oversees the efforts to replenish the company's pipeline, either through licensing or acquisition. As of September, that person is Barbara Deptula. "We don't just fill in the holes in the pipeline," she says. "We are the pipeline. We are the 'R' in research."

A biopharmaceuticals industry veteran who grew up in Connecticut, Deptula joined as executive vice president of business development with a mandate to kick Shire's licensing machine back into high gear after a couple of slow years. She did so almost immediately, announcing in late January that Shire will work with New River Pharmaceuticals Inc. to push New River's attention deficit disorder drug through the final stages of testing. New River, based in Radford, Va., could receive as much as $500 million from Shire if the drug makes it to market and hits sales milestones, although the only guaranteed money is the $50 million Shire paid up front.

It's no surprise that Deptula's first major deal is for an ADD drug. Shire's flagship product, Adderall XR, treats the same condition but is under fire on two fronts. In February the Canadian government removed it from the market, citing safety concerns. (Shire complied but maintains the drug is safe.) Observers are keen to see whether U.S. regulators follow suit - and at the same time, whether the generic drugmakers who are challenging the Adderall patents might succeed. All this makes Deptula's mission more urgent.

Deptula, who just turned 50, says business development is all about process. Streamline it, she says, or potential deals will get "stuck in the funnel." She and her staff of a dozen people screen six to 12 potential deals a day, from all manner of sources: bankers, other companies, Shire employees. Shire has three main business units that also serve as product categories: central nervous system, gastrointestinal and general products.

As pitches come in, a decision-approval loop is initiated that Deptula says should take no more than three or four weeks. The way it works: Deptula and staff make a first cut and distribute the promising pitches to a business development vice president in each unit. The VP's assembled team then runs a scientific and commercial review; if deemed a fit, the pitch is kicked upstairs to the executive product review committee, which includes Deptula, CEO Matt Emmens and several other senior managers. At that point, deal outlines take shape: license or acquisition? How much money? How many years? What kind of milestones?

If the committee approves the project and tacks on parameters, the pitch has made it full circle: Deptula and her staff take over again and sit down to hammer out a deal with the other party.

She's served business development, operations and other management stints at Coley Pharmaceutical Group Inc. of Wellesley, Mass., U.S. Bioscience Inc. (now defunct), Schering-Plough Corp. and elsewhere. Despite Shire's split personality, with global HQ in London and U.S. operations based in Philadelphia, Deptula is downright sedentary compared with previous gigs. Still, she estimates she'll be away from Philly a third of the time. "Our job is not to be in the office. The joke inside is that Barbara has 3,000 boyfriends," she says in reference to her many meetings and contacts.

Deptula expects to be able to bring in at least two or three advanced drug candidates a year per business unit - and relishes the idea of competing for them. "We always ask, 'What is it you want out of the deal?' she says, "while Big Pharma insists on controlling everything. A lot of people in the industry say there's not enough late-stage deals to be done. I say there's plenty." - Alex Lash

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