For early-career scientists who are interested in an industry position, it’s a great time to start making some new friends.

Contributor Melissa Greven

Heidi Ledford, Kevin Bitterman, Margaret Chu-Moyer, Masha Harelli, Joanne Kamens{credit}Image credit: Kiki Chu{/credit}

“It’s the best time for biotech in more than 20 years,” said Kevin Bitterman, a partner at the venture-capital firm Polaris Partners during a panel discussion on the bioscience industry in Boston, Massachusetts. This observation was echoed by his fellow panelists, who came from a variety of backgrounds ranging from pharmaceuticals to non-profit biotechnology firms to contract research organizations (CROs). A few years ago, a lack of investment was expected to lead to the downfall of the biotech sector. But the biotech market swings up and down as does any other and, as with the stock market, the best investments often can be made while the market is in a down phase. Today, the biotech sector is booming thanks largely to an influx of start-ups (in disease, drugs, scientific tools and medical devices) and significant capital backing of them. And that means it is an excellent time for early-career researchers to try to gain entry to the field.

The panel discussion, where Bitterman was joined by Joanne Kamens (Addgene), Margaret Chu-Moyer (Amgen), Masha Hareli (ATR LLC) and was chaired by Heidi Ledford (Nature), was part of the Naturejobs Career Expo, a day-long science-careers conference on 20 May in Boston that was organized and presented by the Naturejobs department of Nature magazine. Continue reading →