Matthew Engel

By Mathew A. Engel

Day 1 Summary: Venture Capital Financing, Intellectual Property Management, and Emerging Business Models

The 2009 Life Science Summit took place from September 23 to 24, 2009 at the Hyatt Regency Hotel in Happauge, NY. There were hundreds of attendees representing the biotech industry and academia from all over the state. The industry attendees showed a diverse segmentation with strong representation from university technology transfer offices, law firms, venture capital firms, medicine, privately held biotech companies, mid and large-cap pharmaceutical companies. As a graduate student and alumni of the Fundamentals of the Bioscience Industry Program, I spent most of my time talking with accomplished professionals from successful companies who had experience commercializing technology, raising capital, or evaluating new ventures. Below I will summarize my findings from the most interesting sessions throughout the first day of the summit. Hopefully, in the near future I will publish a follow-up covering day 2.

What Does it Take to Build a Biotechnology Company in Today’s Environment

The opening plenary session was a great way to spark the crowd’s interest and attention. In the back of my mind, I am always thinking about starting a biotechnology company and therefore always eager to hear advice from seasoned industry veterans. These individuals, especially those who volunteer as panelists or speakers are often willing to share their knowledge and offer some deep insight to beginners. In this session the speakers focused on how to raise capital. Those who are evaluating your proposal will be thinking “where is the technology” and “where is the project”. It is suggested that you network and these connections will lead you to investors who can also guide you into small collaborations. Their role is to keep these smaller companies on track. Currently, most of the demand is for products in late stage clinical trials, in this space demand remains high. Pharma is limiting their investment to certain therapeutic areas. The days of massive deal for a new platform technology are behind us. The huge investment in genomics with no products to show for it was cited. Most deals come about because someone knew someone. It’s not just writing a business plan and patents (though that is still required!). Venture capital (VC) will only stay in for a very short time. Pharma will only jump in Phase II. VC largely invests in people they know. Mailing the best business plan in the world to VCs will get you nothing. You have to meet people some way that might invest. For example, some of the people on the panels today are Angel investors. Remember to “pick your partners”. The entrepreneur better be prepared to invest. Are there other options besides start-up? Many of the panelists, knowing what they do now, would not have chosen to start their own company. “Got to be ignorant to go do it”. Today, businesses are focusing on staying extremely lean – infrastructure is reduced. Reducing the amount of money necessary to operate. However, a company can only “be so lean” and achieve their business goals. VC is not going to be the “sugar baby” that’s going to take the company all the way through. There are drug discovery and medical chemistry labs on campus. The university should have a funding pool designated for small companies coming out of academia. One of the panelists spent time describing the experience of his friend who was trying to raise capital. His friend took no as just another opportunity to go back to him. However, it’s good to get someone with more experience and put together a team of people. “Build a culture and your company”. Medical devices is a great area to get into now. Diagnostics tools is a “neat area to be going into”. Get management in – VC looks at management team. Get help and advice from VC. Donald L. Drakeman, Venture Partner at Advent Ventures had previously ran a company and was now a VC. His motto is “management, management, management”. What makes great management? Management that will step aside.

Is the VC funding Model Broken?

Mary C. Tanner, Managing Director at Peter J. Solomon & Co. and Maggie Flanagan LeFlore, Managing Director at MedImmune Venture Inc. were two of the most outspoken panelists during this business workshop. The panel delivered an overview of the VC industry covering current trends in their investment strategies. VC’s are adaptable and clever. They are in the business of building private companies to be sold. Their goal is to reach a deal with your company, in which payments are made as milestones are met. LeFlore covered 18 deals in the last year. Private companies are easier to sell. Fewer and fewer big pharma are in the market for these investments. Their has been a fundamentals shift in exit strategy. Survival has followed those most adaptable to change. There are many exit strategies. How to get the VCs interest? Early stage risk is notorious, your goal should be to find little pockets of money to move things forward. Your faculty members better be well known (i.e. published in Nature, Science, Cell..). One of the panelists, E. Jonathan Soderstrom, Managing Director of the Office of Cooperative Research at Yale University had brought a compound to the attention of Lily. They asked for a proof of concept in humans! He did not even have that in animals. The message is that you cannot expect Lily or Genetech to fund your development costs when the product is highly experimental.

Minimally Invasive Delivery of Mesenchymal Stems to the Nucleus Pulposus Using an In Situ Thermoresponsive Hydrogel

In July 2009, I passed a major milestone in my graduate research in the Department of Biomedical Engineering at Stony Brook University – I passed my qualifying exam! This literally required hundreds and hundreds of hours of work, during which I read over 50 scientific publications and synthesized them to come up with an original grant proposal. In this case, my challenge was to use a tissue engineering approach to treat degenerative disc disorder. Below, I will place my statement of interest plus a copy of the grant proposal and presentation I made. I most definitely learned a tremendous amount from this process, most of which I will be keeping private and storing away for later use. But it really teaches you how to make an effective presentation and to prepare thoroughly for a talk.

In a nutshell, the project focuses on stem cell implantation technology to treat spinal chord injuries associated with aging, and could also be applied to acute injuries.

Click on individual slides to see the full image

PROJECT SUMMARY: This proposal aims to design an in situ curable hydrogel composed of PNIPAAm-PEG capable of delivering therapeutic cells and drugs to the degenerated nucleus pulposus (NP) of an intervertebral disc (IVD). The therapeutic cells will be human mesenchymal stem cells (hMSCs) differentiated into NP-like cells by exposure to hypoxic low oxygen conditions in the presence of transforming growth factor β1 (TGF- β1). The hydrogel is composed of a solution containing 10% PNIPAAm-PEG(8000) at a 1:1600 ratio of PNIPAAm:PEG which undergoes a sol-gel transition at physiological temperatures (32°C). Modifications to the PEG molecular weight or concentration can be used to alter the hydrogel stiffness or sol-gel transition temperature. These properties will allow users to prepare cell and drug loaded solutions at ambient temperatures and then inject them into the degenerated disc, at which point they solidify in situ. The hydrogel is capable of being blended with small molecule inhibitors of nitric oxide synthase (NOS). The inhibition of NOS has been shown to increase proteoglycan content which can restore disc height to the degenerated IVD.

Download copy of grant proposal here (.pdf)

On April 16, 2009 I was privileged to give a short talk at the Fundamentals of the Bioscience Industry Program at Stony Brook University. This program is part of a collaborative curriculum provided by the Center for Biotechnology and Business School. It is intended to give science based graduate students a crash course in the biotechnology and pharmaceutical industries.

The program remains an outstanding opportunity for academic researchers and students who otherwise may never have had personal interactions or exposure to seasoned professionals and industry veterans. Actively participating in the course gives job seekers many advantages, and as an alumni I can attest from my own experience and from the experiences of others that it can open many doors. However, like any good opportunity, your results will depend on what you make of it. This year I was invited back to give a short talk on a topic of my choice. As a successful job seeker, I have found that one of my personal strengths is the ability to make connections and find work in a field that interests me. Lorrence Green, President and owner of Westbury Diagnostics Inc, was present that day and set to teach the course. Larry and I have worked together, successfully launching his corporate website which has increased his company’s visibility, in addition to retaining and attracting customers. 

Therefore, I decided to give a talk on the importance of professional networks and other traits which will give the job seeker an advantage. I began by asking “Who wants to work in industry?” and “Who wants to stay in research?”. These are very important questions to consider when embarking on a scientific, legal or business related career in biotech. Most of the class knew they wanted to go to ‘industry’, though the majority of students don’t know how to make this transition occur. Therefore I focused on three main points: (1) Networking (2) Internships and (3) Skills with an emphasis in their relation to the job search.

From my experience I have found that meeting new people is the key to finding those covented jobs which may be available, but often unadvertised. For example, at conferences it is to one’s advantage to speak out and ask questions. This is a great way to get noticed, spark conversations and find out some new information about a speaker’s presentation. It also allows you to more comfortably introduce yourself to a speaker after their talk, if you have already addressed them in a public forum.

I find it helpful to attend any conference I can which is related to my field that has professionals available to rub shoulders with and ask for advice. Here, one should take the opportunity to meet new people and even collect their card, if the situation warrants. Often, I notice the ‘pathological’ networker, moving quickly from one ‘victim’ to the next in an effort to collect as many business cards as possible. I occasionally see this technique in action and find it unsuccessful (by observation only!). I would rather make 3 excellent contacts who I stay connected with, rather than many ‘weak’ contacts with individuals who would not remember my name or face the next day.

With today’s job market being so competitive, companies are often looking for people who mostly have experience. But without experience, how does one gain experience in the new field they are interested in? First of all, there is always demand for great people. Next, there are frequently internships to aid in this transition process. Apply for every job you can. As my father once told me, “if you never apply, you’ll never get the job”. It is important to consider different opportunities, have an open mind and think “I can do this” – meaning that you are motivated and interested in learning new skills which will make you more valuable in the market. These skills do not include just hard science skills, or research abilities.

There are a multitude of jobs available in quality assurance, scientific writing, FDA regulatory affairs, and intellectual property. Alot of this work can be found in government agencies themselves, such as the USPTO. Remember to always keep your resume up to date. Mine can be found here. I keep multiple versions available – some for private distribution and others for public distribution. When looking at a job advertisement, keep in mind it is not necessary to meet all their requirements listed in the ad. These are often just desired characteristics, such as “6 years experience”. They may very well end up hiring someone with 4 years experience, if they fit best into the company’s culture. 

Once, you are on the job, a whole new set of rules applies. A great tip I heard from Saied Tousi, VP at the Pall Corporation, was to always arrive before the boss. Another is to dress well. It pays dividends to consistently look professional. At conferences I recommend to dress as well as you can. There is a large difference between the what professionals can wear to work in academia and industry. Show people your resume and get feedback. This has been invaluable to me, and has allowed me to adjust my CV frequently with the help of a more experienced eye. Finally, it is important to always be on the look out. I suggested taking advantage of the corporate culture module portion of the class and to network with the course instructors themselves. Coincidently, the main presenter for the day was Bill Liggan – an energetic human resources professional at Icon Laboratories. Bill is an experienced recruiter with great knowledge about cultivating relationships and marketing yourself. It was a great opportunity to meet and share ideas, since our topics were so related. 

But most importantly, you are in control of your own destiny. When you finish graduate school, a job is not just thrown at you. Doctoral students have a very specific set of skills in their field. Our strength lies in the ability to leverage our analytical powers and determined nature to complete difficult tasks. So to all the job hunters out there, good luck and best wishes!I hope these little tidbits were helpful and maybe even inspiring. When you land that big job, don’t foget to say hi!