-
Words of Wisdom for Aspiring Biotech Founders Coming out of Academia
Aspiring Biotech CEOs coming out of academia, here are some words of wisdom from people who have done it before: “I’m a huge believer that recently minted PhDs—or MDs or MBAs for that matter—who want to go into biotechnology, should work at a more established biotech company…not necessarily pharma because they can be siloed. If…
-
Recruit your “Counterbalances”
Biotech leaders, don’t forget to recruit your “counterbalances” into your team. In biotech, we talk a lot about “complementary skills”, i.e. science vs business, bio vs tech, clinical vs regulatory vs commercial etc. That’s only one aspect of diversity in team building. There’s another aspect that’s usually overlooked: the diversity of approach/thinking. For example… If…
-
Let Your Scientists Go with Their Passions
When Joshua Boger started Vertex in 1989, the original business plan was to focus on antivirals except HIV. He recounts, “The reason we said antivirals except HIV was not because we were anti-HIV, but because of the perception within the investment community at that time. If you mentioned the word virus, they immediately associated you…
-
Every Biotech CEO Should Read This CIA Publication
Every biotech CEO should read The Psychology of Intelligence Analysis by Richards Heuer. Because biotech is like international politics. There are so many players and each player has their own agenda for their own reasons. Investors, pharma, regulators, Wall Street, policymakers… The biggest mistake that a biotech CEO can make is to take things personally.…
-
Making a Drug is Not Enough
Joshua Boger, the founder of Vertex Pharmaceuticals writes about his mentor Henri Termeer: “Henri reminded me and challenged me and mentored me in the conviction that making a drug is not enough and building a company is not enough. Henri foresaw a great threat to patients if mechanisms of innovation were ineffective. That insight inspired…
-
Inspiration from Len and George at Regeneron
“Didn’t get our first drug approval for 20 years… didn’t become profitable for almost 25 years… up until then, financial analysts used to mock us as the definitive example of scientists not knowing how to run a business… as Len says, we became an “overnight success” after 20 years of perceived failure… But over the…
-
A Biotech CEO’s Most Important Job
“At the heart of strong leadership is the ability to command teams, to build community, to build teamwork, to build communication across executive committees, senior leadership committees, boards… It’s the ability to stabilise teams and the communication across teams, up to the board down to the senior leadership team and across the organisation.” — Jodie…
-
Create your Patient Wall
This is the Patient Wall at Agios Pharmaceuticals, adorned with the faces of people that Agios has helped throughout the years. It serves as a reminder to everyone at the company that their work affects and saves real lives. I discovered Agios’ Patient Wall through Peter Smith’s blog post on the Life Sci VC’s website. …
-
Lessons from our Henri Termeer
I’ve spent the last couple of days reading everything I could find about Henri Termeer. Whenever you need a little motivation in your arduous journey, please read the story of this man. It will do your heart good. It will help you understand why you chose this journey… Henri was the CEO of Genzyme, a…
-
What Does it Take to Be a Good Leader in a Pharmaceutical Company?
The founder and former CEO of Vertex Pharmaceuticals, Joshua Boger, was once asked: “What does it take to be a good leader in a pharmaceutical company?” Boger said, “Pharmaceutical discovery and development is the most complicated activity that humans do. Going to Mars is easy, going to Mars is engineering! I mean, I’m not an…