For biotech and life science professionals, the following statement won’t be a surprise: the life science industry is unique in its complexity. For non-life science professionals who, managed to stumble upon this post, take it from us: the life science industry is unique.
If we were to tell you that the Life Sciences industry is unique, you’d already be well-aware. If we were to tell you that, as a business, we’ve proudly operated in the epicenter of the industry, Biotech Bay, for two decades and developed an expertise of the symbiotic relationship between Science and Business, you would know this as well.
From R&D tax credits to the high risk of innovation to decades long product life cycles, the life science industry is like no other.
The life sciences industry is comprised of Pharmaceutical, Biotech, Medical Device and Diagnostic companies. Within each of these market segments is further fragmentation. For example within the Biotech industry segment, the various business models often seen include: R&D companies, product based commercial companies, virtual development, R&D grant funded, collaborator funded, and of course public and private.
Time is money or any other commodity we care to translate it into, but the brutal truth is that it's the only resource we cannot recycle. So whatever your perspective, you have to admit that time is priceless. But when we look at the timespans it takes to research, develop, approve, and market a successful drug or medical device within the context of a society bent on instant gratification, it's tempting to question the importance of tracking how much time Dr. So-and-so spent on any given project today, this week, or even this month.
Creating new knowledge is an uncertain business, but it is the business of science. Moreover, even when a scientist or engineer develops knowledge that's interesting, it may or not be commercially useful.
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