Expert Advice

Academics with a drive to turn their research into commercial products often end up in the position of Chief Scientific Officer at a biotech company. Kees Melief shares his own personal experience transitioning from academia to industry. After his retirement as an academic researcher at Leiden University, Cornelis ‘Kees’ Melief founded and became the Chief […]

The relationship between the board and the CEO can be essential to the success of a life sciences company. Drawing from his experience at both sides, Alan Levy shares his advice on how to make that relationship work.  Once known as the person who introduced portable defibrillators on the market in the 1990s, Alan Levy […]

Choosing where to plant your biotech company’s roots is a fundamental question driven by access to capital, talent, and infrastructure. But the pandemic is accelerating a decentralization movement, changing the way companies think about headquarters. Regions like the Bay Area and Boston in the US, or the UK’s golden triangle remain huge draws for biotech […]

A chief financial officer in the life sciences needs to develop their skills beyond technical expertise. Catherine Moukheibir shares her advice for CFOs in biotech drawing from her experience being one and hiring people for that position. Catherine Moukheibir’s career in biotech spans two decades. She has been a chief financial officer (CFO) twice, and […]

Life science researchers with an entrepreneurship inclination are often attracted to leadership positions with a focus on medical science. Daniel Chung shares his journey to becoming the Chief Medical Officer of the biotech startup SparingVision.  Within a biotech company, a Chief Medical Officer (CMO) typically oversees and sets the company’s strategy and direction regarding the […]

Biotechs always start with great scientific ideas, but if you can’t protect them, you can’t see them through to execution. Companies need to start developing long-term intellectual property strategies almost as early as they are devising the ideas that need protecting. Experts say that the right intellectual property (IP) strategy for a new biotech depends […]

For any startup, and especially for biotechnology startups, success depends on three main factors: science, financing, and people. One of the key factors investors look for is having a management team that can raise money and make good use of it to advance the science of the company. According to Sinclair Dunlop, Managing Partner at […]