{"id":873,"date":"2012-05-04T00:52:57","date_gmt":"2012-05-04T00:52:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.nature.com\/tradesecrets\/?p=873"},"modified":"2012-04-26T21:11:24","modified_gmt":"2012-04-26T21:11:24","slug":"the-benefit-of-biotechnology-experience","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.nature.com\/tradesecrets\/2012\/05\/04\/the-benefit-of-biotechnology-experience","title":{"rendered":"The Benefit of Biotechnology Experience"},"content":{"rendered":"

When venture capitalist Robert Swanson, and biochemist Dr. Herb Boyer each put in $500 to start Genentech in 1976, it could hardly be said that they knew what they were getting into, or how\u00a0they were going to\u00a0make their company successful. Few biotechnology companies existed before, and there were no successful \u201cbiotechnology business models\u201d to follow.\u00a0 However, these founders had a clear vision and a burning passion to use this newly discovered recombinant DNA technology to create disease treatments that were previously deemed \u201cimpossible.\u201d This tool became known as \u201cGen<\/strong>etic En<\/strong>gineering Tech<\/strong>nology,\u201d hence the name Gen-en-tech.<\/p>\n

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Since its founding, Genentech scientists have developed some of the world\u2019s first recombinant human therapeutics, such as Recombinant Human Insulin, Recombinant Human Growth Hormone, Recombinant Human Tissue Plasminogen Activator (tPA) and many others. Then in March 2009, Roche conducted a complete buyout of Genentech for $46.8 billion dollars, picking up the 56% of Genentech\u2019s outstanding shares that Roche did not already own.\u00a0 Not a bad return for a $500 investment in 1976!<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

There was no doubt that between 1976 and 2009, Genentech experienced numerous, and sometimes disastrous, trials and errors in their product development, regulatory approvals, marketing and corporate development.\u00a0 Since no best practices were available to follow in this fledgling industry, and there were few experiences to draw from, and no serial biotechnology entrepreneurs to listen to, the company founders forged ahead by sheer instinct, and created their own best practices as their company grew.<\/p>\n

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Today, the biotechnology industry is more than 35 years old with thousands of biotechnology companies worldwide, and many of these companies have been started by serial biotechnology entrepreneurs. Sound business models are now available and there is plenty of experience to draw from for those contemplating starting and growing a biotechnology company. However, the challenge is often finding these resources and getting serial entrepreneurs to share their candid insights and experiences. All biotech entrepreneurs can save time and avoid costly mistakes if they avail themselves to as much practical experience as possible.\u00a0 This old saying does have an element of truth, \u201cLearn from the mistakes of others because you will never live long enough to make them all yourself!\u201d<\/p>\n

Beginning May 15 through June 12, 2012, a 5-week, webinar series titled \u201cThe Business of Bioscience: What Goes Into Making a Biotechnology Product\u201d <\/em><\/strong>will be presented by Dr. Craig Shimasaki, and sponsored by the National Council of Entrepreneurial Tech Transfer (NCET2).\u00a0 This 5-series web-based presentation will cover the author\u2019s 28 years of experience as a serial entrepreneur of three biotechnology companies.\u00a0 You can learn more, or register, by going here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The reference book for the course can be found here<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

When venture capitalist Robert Swanson, and biochemist Dr. Herb Boyer each put in $500 to start Genentech in 1976, it could hardly be said that they knew what they were getting into, or how\u00a0they were going to\u00a0make their company successful. Few biotechnology companies existed before, and there were no successful \u201cbiotechnology business models\u201d to follow.\u00a0 However, these founders had a clear vision and a burning passion to use this newly discovered recombinant DNA technology to create disease treatments that were previously deemed \u201cimpossible.\u201d This tool became known as \u201cGenetic Engineering Technology,\u201d hence the name Gen-en-tech.  Read more<\/a> Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":647,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[16],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-873","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-entrepreneurship"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.nature.com\/tradesecrets\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/873","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.nature.com\/tradesecrets\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.nature.com\/tradesecrets\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.nature.com\/tradesecrets\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/647"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.nature.com\/tradesecrets\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=873"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.nature.com\/tradesecrets\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/873\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.nature.com\/tradesecrets\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=873"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.nature.com\/tradesecrets\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=873"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.nature.com\/tradesecrets\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=873"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}