Category Archives: R&D

No Lab? No Problem! Leveraging the Power of the Biotech Incubator for Startup Success

Cracked eggs graphic

Get more bang for your buck! Biotech incubators not only free you from the expense, time and effort of establishing a lab but also can provide access to technical expertise and fellow entrepreneurs that can give you a powerful competitive edge.

By:  Roger Frechette, Ph.D.

Business incubators are loosely defined as supportive environments helping entrepreneurs to launch and grow successful businesses. Whether for-profit or non-profit, spawned by commercial real estate firms, state/local governments, academic officials or entrepreneurs, business incubation on the rise with an increasing variety of offerings to suit virtually any aspiring entrepreneur.  The National Business Incubator Association, and numerous state and local affiliates, offer loads of information for incubators and entrepreneurs alike.

Why this works
A critical advantage that business incubators offer is the availability of fully functional infrastructure – enabling entrepreneurs to focus on their fledgling businesses without having to worry about time-consuming operational bits like setting up permits, licenses, internet access, waste disposal, meeting space, security, vendor negotiations etc.

Successful companies paying it forward
As an active member of the Massachusetts biotech community, I’m delighted that biotech incubation is experiencing a significant growth spurt within the already prodigious life sciences ecosystem.  I wish this had been the case when we started MaxThera in the last decade.  Beginning with an idea in 2003, we landed at Inotek Pharmaceuticals, along with other startups, including Smart Cells. Inotek happened to have a bit of extra lab space and equipment available, and was willing to lend a hand to startups.  Other companies have offered shared space to startups as well, but such arrangements can be difficult to find are not always well-suited to the incubator role.

Massachusetts biotech incubators: A model for success
The Massachusetts Biomedical Initiatives (MBI) is sort of a granddaddy of biotech incubation – launched in the 1980’s, MBI provides office and laboratory space, including some basic lab equipment.  Centrally located in Worcester, MBI has grown considerably over the years, is housed in several buildings and has tenants ranging from innovative biotechs to research service providers. The Cambridge innovation Center (CIC) is another mature entity that offers amazing office facilities and resources to startups of every kind, and is located in Kendall Square (for any readers from another planet, that’s in Cambridge, Massachusetts).  Until now, CIC has not had direct access to laboratory space, but that is going to change soon with the launch of Lab Central expected later this year.

The future of biotech incubators is now
A few new breeds of biotech incubator are on the rise though.  A leader of one such new breed is North Shore InnoVentures, with thoroughly equipped biological laboratory facilities and a host of added value services (Note: NEPA is actively involved with NSIV as a sponsor and advisor).  As is the case with MBI, NSIV tenants include service providers, such as Hepatochem and Cell Assay Innovations, but here, both share the space with other startups, creating a unique environment for collaboration.  Joel Berniac, Founder and CEO of Akrivis Technologies, a recent NSIV graduate, described his experience in this incubator as follows:

“Being part of North Shore InnoVentures during our critical start-up phase proved to be a key success factor in our transition to commercial operations. The collaboration opportunities we received, along with access to world-class facilities, mentoring and a network of business and investor contacts, gave us an enormous advantage.” – Joel Berniac, Ph.D., MBA

Contract Research Organizations (CRO’s): Mixing business with startups to help entrepreneurs
Another new approach is incubator space offered by a contract research organization (CRO).  TGA Sciences and Cambridge BioLabs are two examples of companies that provide varied biological and/or pharmacological research services as well as offering shared space for startups.  For entrepreneurs, this is a great deal because their teams work in close contact with experienced scientists from the CRO, and they can readily expand their staff capabilities by engaging the CRO for services.

With my background in chemistry, I’m particularly interested in the launch of the CreaGen Chemistry Incubator (C2I) (Note: NEPA is also an advisor to CreaGen).  For entrepreneurs starting a chemistry centric business, C2I offers a unique office and laboratory space that includes access to experienced chemists as well as a full array of chemistry equipment instrumentation and automation equipment.  Biology driven companies might also like this space, especially if they are planning to develop small molecule products or to use chemistry based tools for their work.

Accelerating great science, entrepreneurship and financial outcomes…
Biotech business incubators, both new and established (I have mentioned just a few here), offer amazing facilities and resources with cost structures that cannot be matched by any stand-alone company.  In a world where financing great ideas is increasingly difficult, these facilities give entrepreneurs funding their dream with savings accounts, grants or friends/family a chance to get up and running fast.  Professional investors occasionally find gold in incubators, but anecdotal evidence suggests that incubator residents still represent an emerging opportunity for investors to find the next breakout success for their portfolio.  Some investors might also benefit from exploring incubators as low cost options for developing assets they have already funded. Word is getting around:  MassBio recently launched their Incubators in MA page to make it easier for anybody with an internet connection to find them.

This post was originally published by New England PharmAssociates (NEPA).  Click Here to read other posts from the NEPAblog.

Picture Credit:  New Business Image, Renjith Krishnan, FreeDigitalPhotos.net

The Business of Life Sciences: Using Great Science to Build Great Businesses

Big sand dune with dark shadow on one side

There is no ‘dark side’ to commercializing Life Sciences – just a ‘different dise’.

By Andrew Johnson, Ph.D.

Having a clear understanding of the differences between how science is done from an academic standpoint with how it is done in the typical Life Science company can significantly ease the path from discovery to market success.  To the uninitiated scientist, the commercial team (Sales people, Marketing people, Business Development folks and the Financial Team) has been viewed as ‘the dark side’ and only interested in driving the business and either not understanding or valuing the role of the underlying science.  From the business perspective, there is a concern that company scientists are only concerned with making more discoveries and not pushing towards doing the kind of work required to launch a compelling product.  Neither view is accurate.  Getting a good understanding of the differences can help to align the critical goals of each of these important parts of the life science company and increase the chances for success.

Why the Confusion?
Some of this confusion is caused by the way that scientists are trained in academia.  The increasing pressures that academic scientists are facing to fund their research programs as NIH funding continues to become harder to secure only acerbates this.  New relationships between commercial life science and biotechnology companies with academia, often facilitated by university technology transfer offices, are providing new sources of research capital.  Strategic partnerships, patenting and out-licensing of intellectual property from research conducted in academia are increasingly filling the government sponsored funding gap.  Like it or not, the lines between academic and commercial science have already been blurred.

Confusion is created because academic – commercial partnerships do not really combine the science being done in university labs with the commercialization efforts being done at the outside company.  This separation allows traditional roles and attitudes to remain prevalent.  In a Life Science company, the priorities of the science, the way that it is conducted, how it is validated and decisions on what projects will be worked on and which ones will be discontinued must be driven by commercial priorities.  However, it is equally crucial that the commercial team allows enough freedom to R&D to insure the quality of the experimental and feasibility work and that there is some room for discovery (you never know what killer application you will find or valuable intellectual property your R&D team will develop).

Getting the R&D and Commercial Teams on the Same Side
The following table lists some of the key differences between academic and commercial science.

Academic

Commercial

Research Scope The scope is wide.  New   research findings drive the efforts in often unpredictable ways.  This process is inherently unpredictable   and random. The scope of the experimental program is very focused.  Only work that progresses the science from   feasibility to finished product is encouraged.
Goals Improve understanding of scientific or technical discipline Improve robustness of product and provide initial data to support   applications that will support commercialization
Scientific Validation Publications, Presentations, Patents Product Sales, Patents (as part of a strategic intellectual property   estate)
Funding Sources Grants, Foundation Sponsorships, consulting fees, licensing fees and   royalties Investments, Sales Revenue, licensing fees and royalties

 

There is no ‘dark side’ in a successful life science company, just a healthy relationship between the scientific and commercial teams.  In both academic and commercial cases, the goal is to produce new technology and science.  The only difference is in the path that each of these endeavors use to achieve this.

Picture Credit:  © Engere | Stock Free Images & Dreamstime Stock Photos