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Life Sciences Roundtable tackles challenges along product development-to-launch trajectory

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.

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RoseRyan nurtures life sciences companies with QB3 Accelerator program

We’re pleased to announce that we are a partner of the brand-new QB3 Accelerator program, created by the California Institute for Quantitative Biosciences (QB3) to help life sciences companies become operationally efficient. We’ll be providing members of the QB3 Accelerator with finance and accounting services that range from getting their accounting functions up to serving as CFO and consulting on finance challenges.

Joining forces with QB3 was a no-brainer: we’ve been working in the life sciences sector since 1996 and understand what companies in this sector need at every stage of growth. QB3, formed in 2000, houses 62 companies in its incubator network and has helped 95 teams start their companies in the last 15 months. The QB3 Accelerator can make a huge impact by giving member companies access to opinion leaders, networking events, operational assistance and services from partners like RoseRyan.

“What we love about QB3 Accelerator is that it’s designed to help startups achieve operational efficiency quickly,” says RoseRyan cofounder and CEO Kathy Ryan. “That mission falls right in our wheelhouse. These companies don’t want to worry about accounting and finance—they need to focus on their mission.

“We know how important it is to do things right from the start—mistakes can turn out to be very expensive later on. And we understand how issues change as a company grows. QB3 Accelerator lets us tailor our services—we deliver just what clients need so they can relax and spend their time in the lab.”

QB3 Accelerator business partners have been recommended by life sciences startups. In addition to accounting and finance, the services they provide include IT, lab services, insurance, staffing and payroll and benefits. QB3 Accelerator launches officially Dec. 14. Currently, more than 30 startup companies are members.

For details on RoseRyan’s QB3 service offerings, see the QB3 website.

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