Innovation is one of the most critical determinants of economic success and one of the most important elements in building a competitive advantage. The COVID-19 pandemic has led to the development of new strategic partnerships, including open innovation alliances, in the biopharmaceutical industry. The adoption of open innovation strategies has been a persistent trend, although these strategies vary onsiderably from one country to another. The lowest level of open cooperation and R&D collaboration in the biopharmaceutical industry can be observed in Central and Eastern Europe, including Poland. The main barriers to, and challenges facing, open innovation cooperation in the Polish biopharmaceutical sector, however, are not well understood. This study analyses the major drivers of, and barriers to, engaging in open innovation cooperation. A survey was conducted and established that open innovation cooperation and R&D collaboration do not necessarily suffer from a lack of financial resources, but are definitely dependent on such socio-behavioural factors as motivation for collaboration, value systems, and trust between partners.