Biotech & Pharma Biomedical career opportunities in industry

1
Biotech Pharma Biomedical career
opportunities in industry
2
Overview

• Science at a Company vs. Academia
• Attributes for Success at a Company
• Biotech vs. Big Pharma
• Biotech Innovation and Risk
• Job Opportunities
• Getting Hired

3
My Experience

• MS Toxicology
• National Taiwan University Institute of Tox 97,
  98, 99 brought me to Science
• PhD Pathology URMC 2001-2007
• Initiated professional interests in metabolic
  syndrome and reproductive endocrinology
• Scientist at Vaxin Inc. 2007-2009 Influenza
  Vaccines (Joined with 15 employees, left with 6
  employees, running out of cash by August)
• Learned many fields ranging from adenoviral based
  vaccines, cell biology, pre-clinical trials,
  immunology
• Postdoctoral fellow at AstraZeneca
  Pharmaceuticals, 2009-10 (60,000 employees)
• Provided expertise and technical skills for
  developing strategic initiative of integrated
  biomarkers (miRNAs, OMICs, Toxicogenomics, FACS,
  Immunoassays) assessing testicular toxicities
• Learned what a Big-Pharma like
• Senior Scientist at Pfizer Drug Safety 2010
  (110,000 employees)
• provide development and assessment of integrated
  biomarkers in support of both efficacy and safety
  biomarker needs in research and drug safety

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Science at a Company

• Scientific endeavor on a project can be carried
  out at a scale that is very rare in a University
  setting
• Teams of competent people aligned toward a common
  goal can accomplish more than any individual
  scientist
• Discoveries can be translated into therapeutic
  opportunities with the potential to create new
  drugs and technologies
• Understand molecular and cellular pathways
  defining a particular biology and how it goes
  wrong in disease
• Create a drug to impact those pathways
• Explore how that drug works in animals and humans
• Design Clinical Program to prove that the drug is
  safe effective
• Register the drug with the FDA and Rest of World

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Differences Between Academia Industry

• You will have access to more resources,
  equipment, core facilities, and collaborative
  colleagues to advance your project
• Academics offers more freedom to pursue personal
  interests (do what you want to do) whereas
  industry wants employees to do what needs to be
  done for the company.
• You may be asked to switch to (or add on) new
  projects
• Although you will report to one person, you will
  interact with many Scientists instead of a single
  PI
• Participate and present in cross-functional
  meetings where data is vetted and the future
  directions of a project are established by
  discussion and consensus
• More heads are better than 1!
• You are likely to publish and attend scientific
  conferences

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Differences Between Academia Industry

• Universities provide a more diverse intellectual
  environment plus the joy of teaching and the
  wonder of learning
• University positions are tenured, whilst industry
  considers downsizing a virtue
• Industry salaries are higher and perks, creature
  comforts, support services, and perks are much
  better
• Policies and management style are more rational,
  or at least more market-responsive, in industry

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Some Myths of Industry

• You have failed if you dont pursue an academic
  position
• Thats what some told me, but there are many
  incredibly competent people doing Science Drug
  Discovery in Industry
• The working day is 9-5
• Hard, effective work is expected and rewarded!
• Compensation is dramatically better than academia
• Entry level scientist positions (3-5 year
  postdoc) are compensated similarly to Assistant
  Professors, but much better than post-docs, and
  there are stock options!
• However, opportunity for advancement is more
  frequent and more rapid than Academia
• You never get to publish
• Publishing is highly encouraged. Also,
  compensation is based on contributions beyond
  publishing
• You cant move from Industry to Academia
• More and more, Universities value Industry
  experience and perspective, making a reverse move
  more likely

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Attributes for Success at a Company

• Team player who can collaborate effectively with
  others
• Ability to become interested in a wide variety of
  different scientific areas - learning is a
  continuous Life-long experience!
• Superb analytical, communication, and
  presentation skills
• All of us have particular skills that make us
  good Scientists, although my exact skill set may
  not be the same as yours
• Contribute your particular talent and expertise
  toward the common goal
• Success means that your project grows so that
  hundreds of people work on it!

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What individual characteristics correlate with
success in the Pharma/Biotech industries?

• Integrity
• Intelligence
• Presence
• Communication ability
• Disciplined work habits
• Group process skills

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Biotech vs Big Pharma
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Small companies

• Greater opportunity for career advancement and
  range of experiences
• Long hours
• Fewer creature comforts
• Equity participation can lead to accumulation of
  wealth
• Resource-constraints and very real risk of
  company going belly up

To dig deeper
r
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Large Companies

• Little risk of company failure
• More structured career paths
• Greater resource availabilityMore opportunities
  for travel and relocation (including overseas)
• Tendency toward formality and hierarchy
• Easier to get lost in back

Small vs large is not a one-off decision. It is
certainlypossible to go back and forth
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Biotech Innovation Risk

• Biotech companies have traditionally been founded
  to exploit cutting edge ideas and technology.
  Examples include
• Using our own cytokines, growth factors, and
  enzymes as drugs
• Engineering human fusion proteins, combining
  functionalities to achieve new properties
• Creating Humanized and Human Monoclonals as drugs
• Transcriptional control
• siRNA
• Ribozymes
• Aptamers
• Gene Therapy
• Many Biotech ventures are unsuccessful, often
  because there is not a realistic business plan of
  how to create an income-generating product before
  their ability to raise money runs out
• You need to assess whether the companys
  scientific and business plan makes sense, their
  history and future potential of raising capital,
  partnering deals they have closed, and how soon
  they will generate revenue

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Entry Level Positions in Biotech

• Research Post-Doctoral Scientist
• Analogous to Academia, except more resources and
  mentoring available
• As in academic post-doc, a good publication
  record should allow return to Assistant Professor
  route
• Pharmaceutical Post-Doctoral Scientist
• Contribute to Clinical Development Projects or
  Core Technologies in ways that may not result in
  high profile publications
• Would lead to a career in Biotech/Pharma
• Scientist
• 2-5 years post-doctoral experience
• Staff Scientist
• 3 years experience following Post-Doc

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Typical Career Path

• Going in entry level positions
• Bench level or project-level research programs,
  working under the close supervision of more
  senior scientists or scientists. Starting PhDs
  typically have an office, technician support, and
  their own lab space.
• After 3-8 years, scientists
• Continue in laboratory and project work at the
  level of senior scientist or independent
  investigator
• Become involved in technology management, often
  rotating through other areas
• After another 3-8 years
• The pack begins to spread out, and individuals
  identify as managers, scientific leaders, or
  broad-based support personnel

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Typical Career Path

• Expect to change jobs every 5 to 10 years and
  work for 7-8 companies during your career

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Scientific Ladder - Criteria
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Scientific Ladder - Criteria
Science Scientific Expertise Foundation /
Competent / Professional / Expert Documentation
/ Communication Independence Accountability Influe
nce Business Impact Within AZ External Impact
Outside AZ
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Criteria Scientist (4a)
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Criteria Sr. Scientist (4b)
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Career Opportunities Outside of Research

• Preclinical Development
• Assay Development Sample Analysis from Human
  Clinical Trials
• Formulation Development
• Pharmacology - Assessing Drugs in Animal Models
• Toxicology Assessing Drug Safety in Animal
  Models
• Protein Sciences
• Cell line generation to overexpress recombinant
  proteins
• Protein characterization
• New technology and assay development
• Protein Manufacturing Process Development
• Program Coordination Management
• Core Facilities
• Methodology Oriented (DNA, in situ, FACS, Mass
  Spec, Biacore)
• Clinical
• Regulatory - understand FDA Guidance, liaison for
  company to FDA, EU
• Scientific Writing
• Quality Control
• Business Development

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Finding a job

• Its a match-up thing. Companies will need you as
  much as you need them but the process is
  frustrating because recruitment is very
  inefficient. Downsizing has cut human resources
  to the bare bone
• In general, you have to find jobs, they dont
  find you
• Pursue all avenues

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Pursuing all avenues

• Begin by
• being clear in your own priorities
• preparing a spiffy one-page CV (resume)
• The go after
• Personal contacts, including family and friends
• The web. Virtually every company now has a
  website with employment opportunity sections
• Ads in the Back of Science, Nature, CE News,
  CraigList, Boston Globe Regional papers

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Application Hiring Process

• Typically, job descriptions are posted,
  applications solicited
• Human Resource personnel (non-scientists) review
  applications, winnowing down to those that match
  job description, and pass on to Hiring Scientists
• Unsolicited applications to HR and Hiring
  Scientists can sometimes hit paydirt and find an
  opening before its even listed

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CV Cover Letter Essentials

• Must communicate to multiple audiences
• Scientists - trying to figure out if you have the
  raw materials that they can mold into a
  productive scientist and useful contributor
• Human Resources - non-scientists checking for a
  match between your CV and a job description
• Usually your First Only Chance to make a
  positive impression
• Should convey your
• Intelligence ability to communicate (Clear
  Writing Clear Mind!)
• Perspective of your field beyond your own project
  
• Accomplishments - aimed at a non-expert and
  placed in context of the open questions in your
  field
• Skill set - techniques that you really know as
  well as those for which you may have a passing
  knowledge and vocabulary
• Enthusiasm!

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CV

• Same CV can be used for all applications
• Need not be 1 page - can be 3-4 or longer
• Research summary
• explain in 1 paragraph your projects and
  conclusions
• aimed at someone who is not in your field
• Can also briefly describe rotation graduate
  research
• Clearly identify core skill sets
• Dont exaggerate - youll get busted
• just because you have seen a mass spectrometer
  doesnt mean you should list it as a core
  competency!!!
• Presentations
• Awards/Grants
• Initiatives that youve undertaken outside your
  core requirements
• Publications - including submitted / in
  preparation
• Supervisory Collaborative experiences

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Cover Letter

• Ideally should be customized for each application
• Should connect your skill set and experience to
  the job you are applying for so that its easy
  for HR to understand and pass on to hiring
  scientist
• Should describe your project and findings in the
  broad context of your field - often the best way
  to convey to the Hiring Scientist that you were
  not just a skilled set of hands directed by your
  PI
• Rarely is an applicant perfect for the job -
  often we look for someone that appears to be
  smart, communicates well, and can grow into a job
• Therefore, its usually a stretch to say that you
  can make company a success
• More reasonable to emphasize your flexibility and
  ability to learn quickly

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Current Trends

• Biologics Therapeutics
• Large number in clinical trials
• Currently constitute a large percentage of
  approved Drugs
• Big Pharma licensing protein therapeutic
  candidates from biotech
• Biomarkers
• Accelerate clinical trial process
• May provide earlier evidence of biological
  activity than clinical readouts
• Also potential to predict responders in a complex
  disease state
• Personalized Medicine
• predicting who will respond best to each drug