Pharmaceutical companies should consider all potential intellectual property disputes before signing deals to fund, guide, and buy biotech innovations. Build-to-buy deals allow buyers to invest in early-stage companies without in-house risks, and gain the option to buy or license any developed product. Lawyers warn that foreseeing every scenario and setting up IP protection in contracts is crucial to protect against new discoveries or deviations from the initial plan. "You have to envisage all of the scenarios and provide for them in the initial agreement, including whether an option to license or buy is exercised or not," Malcolm Bates, Life Sciences partner, said to Law360."The last thing you want is ambiguity and uncertainty at a later date because that's a recipe for a dispute. And disputes have the potential to destroy the value of a development program."