What Advice Do You Have For People Starting A Biopharma Company?

A: HERE ARE MY RECOMMENDATIONS:

1. Put the patient at the center of everything you do … with no exception.
2. Define your core purpose: An exciting mission in less than 15 words, a lofty vision in less than 15 words, a crisp strategy that focuses on value creation, and set yourself up for a disciplined execution.
3. Define your company’s culture “by-design” with values that represent you as the leader and are nonnegotiable.
4. Design a business model that leverages your unique strengths, and select a team that complements them.
5. Focus on therapeutics that are truly innovative, will reduce the healthcare cost, and will improve the patient’s quality of life.
6. Remember that the regulatory agencies follow their rules, not yours.
7. Cash is king: Raise capital when you can, spend as if it is your own, and only on value-creation activities.
8. Prepare for what to do and not to do when a crisis will hit, and it will hit.
9. Never cut corners! Doing so will come back and bite you at the worst possible moment.
10. Don’t strategize for an exit; strategize for value-creation milestones.

FRANCOIS NADER, M.D., MBA
Francois is chairman of Acceleron Pharma and the former CEO of NPS Pharma.