The J&J subsidiary has signed a deal with Boston-area Scholar Rock to discover new biologics that aim for a more pinpoint solution to inflammatory disease.

Atlas pledges to explore areas of mutual interest to the firm and its new corporate limited partners, but the drug firms won’t receive exclusive rights to anything in the new fund’s portfolio.

The pharmaceutical industry has a hard time saying goodbye to strategic assets. In fact, it’s much more adept at welcoming new ones: diversification – either geographic or into areas beyond pure-play pharmaceuticals – has become commonplace. But pharma needs to overcome its entrenched resistance to asset externalization, which should become a critical third leg in its attempts to build long-term shareholder value. Strategic, almost biotech-like externalization strategies should move from a peripheral to a core part of pharma’s activities. Why haven’t they already been embraced?