Adviser and Business Mentor to Bioscience SMEs and Startups
At long last, I have now started serious work on my new book for startups: The Bioscience Startup Journey. Two chapters are already written. And I’m now recruiting beta readers who’ll help me write the book in an agile development way.
Continue reading “Announcing My New Book for Startups”
What’s my business model? Who do I partner with? How do I scale up? These are typical strategic questions a young biotech will regularly face as it evolves from its initial Seed stage through its Series A, B and C funding rounds.
Continue reading “Business Models for a Young Biotech”
Many new biotechs start off as virtual companies. But at each stage of development, you always end up asking whether you should stay virtual or build your own in-house wet labs. What are the pros and cons of being virtual? And is there a more pragmatic “semi-virtual” approach?
Continue reading “Should your Biotech be Virtual?”
Many research-stage biotechs and other small to medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) prioritize partnerships with Big Partners or in Big Disease Indications without sufficient consideration of other options. But SMEs need to consider other factors when deciding who to partner their assets with and how. As do large pharmas partnering with SMEs
Continue reading “Is Big Always Best?”
As the 2015–16 English Premier League football season ends, I reflect on the lessons that smaller/medium sized enterprises (SMEs) can learn from Leicester City’s unlikely victory. In addition, to the usual lessons on how an underdog can triumph over much bigger competitors, I explore three other important lessons that are less obvious.
Continue reading “Lessons from Leicester City’s success for Bioscience SMEs”
Some interesting findings from an industry study on the operational performance drivers in clinical R&D were published earlier this month, many of them challenging established wisdom. In this article, I comment on these findings and look at their implications for both the big pharmas and especially the smaller biopharma SMEs.
Continue reading “Leveling the Operational Playing Field in Clinical R&D”
Partnering assets with large pharmaceutical, diagnostic or medical device multinationals is a critical part of the business model for many small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in the life sciences. But does it make sense for an SME to have a clearly defined partnering strategy or should it be opportunistic?
Continue reading “Strategic Asset Partnering for Bioscience SMEs—Planned or Opportunistic?”
Pfizer’s proposed Hospira acquisition is the latest in a long line of deals that have moved generic drugs into the mainstream of Big Pharma corporate strategy. Once seen as threats eating away at their expensively-built revenue streams, generics now have a distinct role in many Big Pharmas’ business models.
Continue reading “Generics have come full circle for Big Pharma”
In this final instalment of our 3-part series, we look at bioscience platform companies as they mature into focused product businesses. What drives this transition? What are the key success factors as a focused product business? This article covers in more detail Stage 4 of the lifecycle of bioscience platform companies depicted below:
Continue reading “How Bioscience Platform Companies mature into Focused Product Businesses”
In this second instalment of our 3-part series, we look at the adolescent and early adulthood stages of bioscience platform companies. What drives the transition to these stages? What are the key success factors during these stages? This article discusses in more detail Stages 2 and 3 of the lifecycle of bioscience platform companies depicted below:
Continue reading “Bioscience Platform Companies as Technology/Service Providers and Hybrid Businesses”
Robert Thong 