RoseRyan has been supporting clients in the life sciences industry for nearly two decades. In addition to providing assistance on many aspects of accounting, we host a Life Sciences Roundtable twice a year. The event brings together a small group of finance execs to discuss best practices and get input on challenges their life sciences companies are facing. The March 2013 roundtable focused on some of the challenges of moving from product development to product launch:
- Pricing strategy: Some interesting discussion highlighted the challenges of entering a new market and how they differ from the challenges of competing in an established market. That discussion extended to the role of insurance coverage and government reimbursement programs (Medicare, for example) in pricing.
- Manufacturing: Discussion about the decision to outsource manufacturing or do it in-house touched on the complexity of the manufacturing process and drug formulation and on anticipated production volume. A complex manufacturing process may be best handled in-house to ensure quality control. On the other hand, low production volumes and resulting idle capacity in your production facility may make in-house manufacturing costly.
- Sales forecasting: This task is a high-stakes game in life sciences. The worst possible scenario is running short on inventory and having patients unable to refill their prescriptions. But the flip side—having too much inventory—can also kill your bottom line if your product expires before you can sell it.
- Fundraising: No gathering of life sciences finance execs would be complete without a discussion about fundraising—and this one was far ranging. Among the topics were the availability of funds, the cost of capital and dilution to existing shareholders. Participants also considered the pros and cons of when to raise funds—that is, attempt at the outset to raise the full amount needed to fund all clinical trial phases, or only the amount needed to get to the next milestone. They also described some of the types of financings their companies had obtained.
RoseRyan is pleased to provide a forum for our clients in the life sciences industry to discuss issues and share ideas with their peers. We look forward to hosting the next roundtable in the fall.
