Podcasts The Life Science Rundown

The Life Science Rundown is a podcast for life science professionals hosted by The FDA Group. We dive deep into topics across the RA/QA/Clinical space, covering news, exploring trends, and picking the brains of expert guests. Hosted by The FDA Group's President and CEO Nick Capman, The Life Science Rundown is a must-follow for anyone in the FDA-regulated industries.

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Episode #053 Managing Royalties in Biotech, Pharma, and Medtech with David Marlin

 

Nicholas Capman of The FDA Group welcomes David Marlin, Co-Founder and CEO of Metacomet Systems, to explore the often-overlooked complexities of royalty management in life sciences.

Drawing from his experience helping over 200 companies automate royalty payouts, David explains how biotech, pharma, and medical device firms struggle to manage licensing agreements as they scale. What starts as a simple once-a-year payment can quickly evolve into a tangled web of tiered rates, stacked IP, country-specific rules, and audit requirements.

David breaks down where companies most often go wrong—managing rules in Excel, underestimating the operational burden, and lacking traceability across contracts, SKUs, and sales data. He discusses how automation not only reduces risk and effort but also preserves trust with licensors by ensuring accuracy and transparency. The conversation also covers how organizations can recognize when it's time to move beyond spreadsheets, what a successful royalty system implementation looks like, and why experience matters in such a niche space. Whether you're paying or receiving royalties, this episode offers valuable insight into a critical but often misunderstood area of life sciences operations.

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