Read about our Business Plan Competition in The Tennessean
Local students compete to bring biotech to Tennessee
by Kimberly Korwek
On Saturday April 12, 2008, the burgeoning biotechnology industry in Tennessee received an intellectual boost thanks to the entrepreneurial spirit of area students. The First Annual Biotechnology Business Plan Competition organized by the Tennessee Biotechnology Association Student Chapter brought together enterprising students and biotech industry leaders. The year-long effort of the students culminated in the presentation of their business plans to these experts at the Cool Springs Life Sciences Center in Franklin, TN.
The Business Plan Competition was devised to educate and prepare students to develop and evaluate biotechnology business ventures. The students were charged with the development of every aspect of a business plan including product development, market analysis, commercialization, regulatory issues, financial projections and capital requirements.
Most teams consisted of both science and business students, but all received guidance from mentors in the field. The 2007-08 mentors were Dr. Jim Stefansic, Founder and CTO of Pathfinder Therapeutics; Dr. Joel Peek, CEO of Microarrays, Inc.; Dr. Zahra MirAfzali, Founder and President of Encapsula Nanosciences and Mr. Stephen Smith, CEO of LifeGenX LLC.
Additionally, the Tennessee Biotechnology Association Student Chapter sponsored events throughout the year to help teams prepare for the competition. Teams had the opportunity to network with each other and potential business contacts at an informal mixer as well as a workshop given by Dr. Jeff Cornwall, Director of the Center for Entrepreneurship at Belmont University.
Teams were judged on their written document, the presentation of the business plan to the judges, and the scientific principles behind their company. While the proceedings were closed to the public due to intellectual property issues, the teams successfully presented their ideas in front of a professionally intimidating yet incredibly personable judging panel. In addition to challenging the teams to defend their business plan, the judges offered valuable advice on how to improve each plan and presentation as the teams seek funding for their ideas.
The judging panel consisted of leaders in the field: Mr. Keith Gregg, President and CEO of JRG Ventures, LLC; Mr. Christopher Rand, Senior Associate for Enterprise Development at Vanderbilt Office of Technology Transfer and Enterprise Development; Mr. Terry MacIlvain, Regional Product Line Leader for PerkinElmer; Ms. Barbara MacIlvain, NSF SBIR/STTR Grant Review panelist; and Dr. Conan Young, Ph.D., Associate Director for Preclinical Biology at BioMimetic Therapeutics, Inc.
The first place team will be sponsored to attend the 2008 Southeastern BIO Investor Forum (SEBIO) in Palm Beach, FL in December. QuaD-MAP Nanotechnologies won this honor this year. Team members are Matthew Beasley, Amit Sharma, Neeraj Rao, MBA candidates, Ryan Arndt, JD/MBA candidate, Vanderbilt Owen School of Management, and Chinmay Soman, Ph.D. candidate in Material Science, Vanderbilt University.
Second place was awarded to Noggin Technologies. Team members Lauren Matise, Michael Pickup, and Nathan Mutic are first year students in the Biomedical Ph.D. program at Vanderbilt University. Both first and second place teams were invited to present their business plans publicly at the Tennessee Biotechnology Association Annual Meeting in September 2008.
This event was made possible thanks to the generosity of sponsors Christine McDonnell, Nashville Area Chamber of Commerce and Eric Cromwell, Tennessee Technology Development Corporation. The Business Plan Competition was organized by Tennessee Biotechnology Association Student Chapter members Anuraag Sarangi and Mershard Frierson, with assistance from Sam Kale, Frederick Hilliard, and Adeola Davis.
Alternative Careers in Biotech Seminar draws many
By Kimberly Korwek – Editor, TBA Student Newsletter
The first event sponsored by the Student Chapter of the Tennessee Biotechnology Association (TBA) proved a success. Over 70 graduate students, postdoctoral fellows, and research faculty members were in attendance to hear the stories and advice of individuals who had left the ivory tower of academia to stretch the envelope in the biotechnology sector. From technology transfer to human capital consulting to starting your own biotech company, all the speakers had one common piece of advice for students contemplating making the transition: improving networking skills is the best way to find a job and be successful.
Organized by Adeola Davis, President of the TBA Student Chapter, and Joe Rolwing, Executive Director of TBA, this seminar series highlighted some of the possible career options for those interested in leaving the bench. Approximately 40% of those who pre-registered for this seminar indicated they were interested in pursuing administrative/non-bench careers; 25% indicated bench science in industry while the remaining were split between bench science in academia or government and undecided.
Joe Rolwing opened the seminar by discussing the mission of TBA and how the organization could help new scientists develop their careers. With over 125 members, including the 4 Tennessee-based publicly-owned biotechnology companies, the quarterly TBA meetings are great networking opportunities for young researchers. Rolwing estimated that only 15% of jobs are filled from ads; the remaining 85% are filled because of the networking efforts of the jobseeker, emphasizing the unofficial theme of this seminar. His second piece of advice was to develop an “elevator speech”—a short 2-3 sentence description of one’s own research or interests that can be understood by an educated person outside the field in an encounter as brief as an elevator ride. This condensed personal statement is a valuable asset when networking.
Following Rolwing was Dan Ryan, Senior Consultant at the Human Capital Group. A sponsor of the seminar, Ryan aids firms in their acquisition of “human capital”—mid- to senior-level executives and technical leaders. Ryan’s technical background in physics has aided him in his work to help firms determine what kind of people they need to hire to complement their existing skills. Ryan echoed Rolwing’s sentiment that networking is one of the most important skills a job-seeking scientist needs.
Third to speak was John Moffett of BioSystems Consulting. Moffett started BioSystems Consulting to fill the need for contract biomedical research here in Nashville. He outlined the two paths a scientist may take to starting their own biotech company, rising through academia to professorship or climbing the industrial ladder to staff scientist. Moffett believes that the most important part of this cycle is the postdoc. A graduate student should start the search for a postdoc at least eight months before defending, preferably at institutions separate from the graduate institution. He commented that it is not necessary to stay in the same field, as breadth of knowledge and technique is very valuable in the biotech sector. Doing a postdoc instead of moving directly into industry allows for easier transition back into academia if desired.
After making it to academic professor or staff scientist, Moffett recommends at least five to six years of experience before making the move to starting a biotech company. During this time, a budding entrepreneur should focus on gaining experience, networking, presenting at meeting, and staying up to date with the hot new fields. The final crucial element is gaining funding for the new company. This requires having a novel idea or approach with commercial value, a marketing plan, and business partners. A question was asked about the utility of a Ph.D. continuing their training with an MBA. Both Moffett and Rolwing felt that if a scientist had a business partner that they could trust with the financial and marketing aspects of a company then the time and expensive of obtaining an MBA may be unnecessary.
The last to speak was Janis Elsner, Associate Director of the Vanderbilt University Office of Technology Transfer and Enterprise Development. Elsner remarked on the difficulty of obtaining internships in technology transfer offices due to the complicated nature of patent law. However, she offered several alternative ways of gaining knowledge and experience that could lead to job offers. First, patent firms often hire Ph.D.s as scientific advisors, although these positions come with the expectation of attending law school at a later date. Second, anyone with a technical degree (bachelors or above) is eligible to sit for the patent bar and become a patent agent. Numerous study aids are available for this test, which is significantly less involved than the traditional state bar exam. Finally, the U.S. Patent Office is badly in need of patent examiners. This entry level position does not require passing the patent bar and is a great way to get valuable experience in patent law.
The alternative careers in biotech seminar was made possible thanks to sponsorship by the Student Chapter of the Tennessee Biotechnology Association, Kim Petrie of the BRET Office of Career Development and Outcomes Analysis, Dan Ryan of the Human Capital Group, and Ron Perry of LBMC Employment Partners.