With venture capital flowing more slowly into the biotechnology sector, the Valley of Death (a period in which start-ups cannot secure additional funding required to remain viable) has become more deadly. Duane Roth, CEO of CONNECT, has a solution. CONNECT is a dynamic San Diego association increasing the number of San Diego start-ups and their success rate. Roth’s business model innovation aims to pull risk out of drug development, thereby bringing needed investment funds to this important US industry. In a 2010 Kauffman Foundation article Roth and his UCSD co-author Pedro Cuatrecasas call for creation of a “distributed partnering approach that would involve four distinct, independent organizations to collaborate in a risk-adjusted manner to discover, define, develop and deliver innovative products.” The significant innovation is within “define.” The co-authors advise creation of Product Development Companies (PDC), entities that combine “an experienced management team…