These don't break it down by "start-up" but: http://pipeline.corante.com/archives/2010/11/04/where_drugs_come_from_the_numbers.php http://pipeline.corante.com/

These don't break it down by "start-up" but: http://pipeline.corante.com/archives/2010/11/04/where_drugs_come_from_the_numbers.php http://pipeline.corante.com/archives/2010/11/04/where_drugs_... 58% from pharmaceutical companies. 18% from biotech companies.. 16% from universities, transferred to biotech. 8% from universities, transferred to pharma. Pharma and biotech companies do develop some drugs themselves, but the majority model is for a start-up to form around a single drug, and if it looks promising a big player buys them up to finish testing and then market it. If the drug looks promising the company is killed. Venture capital is basically doing the job of drug discovery.