Astex Technology, an emerging platform technology company, entered into a deal with AstraZeneca that could be worth up to US$40 M. This agreement is second with AstraZeneca and latest in a recent spate of Astex’s deals with major pharma companies. This article features the effective business development strategy adopted by Astex, factors contributing to Astex’s run of successful deal signings and lessons to be learned by other platform companies from Astex to explore potential business models.