"StartUp” but hold tight

“Startups” in today’s day and age can provide two important deliverables to the society: -

·       Employment

·       Innovation and possible disruption in the domain they are active in

No doubt Governments across the world and more specifically here in India are trying to support start-ups. However, for entrepreneurs, it is a long winding road that they need to traverse to see light at the end of the tunnel. Not all ideas can be commercialized immediately especially if it is highly technical and demand lot of testing and “proof of concept” studies.

Even after successfully achieving that comes the challenge of proper marketing and positioning of the product. All of these take time and therefore it is imperative that all stake-holders in the “startup” including employees and investors hold tight and pursue with perseverance.

                                                                             Image courtesy - Cushmancreative

Startups in the life science domain have their own challenges apart from the regular ones. The “bench to bedside” concept which the domain especially pharma and biotech works on relies heavily on research. Now, this type of research primarily is based on pre-clinical and then clinical studies. We all know how long it takes for a particular concept to cross all the stages till it reaches the end user. Therefore, patience is an inbuilt asset for the startups that are in this domain. Many startups in US and Europe start working on spinoffs from interesting leads that come out in a laboratory and many lucky ones get funded as well. However, this concept in India needs some time to catch up as investors are vary into putting money so early without any credible road to return of investment. Also, I feel if there are “success” stories in the life science space that come out of India then many investors will get enthused about funding this domain.

Having said that, not all life science startups need wait for the discoveries to take a credible shape. Many companies in the microbiome space for example like Viome (US), Ubiome (US), Day two (Israel) and Leucine Rich Bio (India) are already trying to bring the fruits of research faster to the end user. Of course, research is always “work in progress” and especially in life science new discoveries and theories can append to the existing knowledge however accelerating adoption is also key in making paradigm shifts in the domain.

Hence, it is very important to build an ecosystem where the startups can provide the necessary impetus to the society and all stake holders need to hold tight till the end result is achieved!

The road ahead for Life Science PhDs – the industry options

Getting a PhD is always a very big achievement more so if one has received that degree from a prestigious Institution. Many who are interested in pursuing a PhD do so mainly because of love for “science”. There is no better happiness but to see or find something novel during the course of various experiments that one undertakes during this journey. Of course, out of 100 experiments may be 90 would fail but that teaches tremendous level of perseverance and patience. What is not taught in most institutions is the career path that a budding scientist can take!

                                          Image courtesy - itimes.com

Most PhDs go for post doctoral research which is a kind of bridge between getting an academic/industry position and PhD training. Although, it could be the most productive phase of one’s career, many a times that may not be true. Also, being a post doctoral researcher for long not only dents the individual’s morale but also reduces chance of getting a meaningful employment later. So what are the options?

Not everyone can pursue an academic dream so for the rest industry does provide an alternative if one is receptive enough. There are many options a PhD can look at:-

·         Consultancy jobs – Pharma consultancy jobs require good analytical skills and PhDs generally fit the bill perfectly, however, this is a completely different domain and requires new skill sets which many would possess but may not realize till they start working for such organizations.



·         Industry R&D – Here, I think many PhDs would feel comfortable. However, industry research is completely different from the academic one. Stricter timelines and deadlines are the norm. So one has to quickly adjust to the new environment.

 ·         Business Development – This is a domain for those who like presenting or networking with people. Not all PhDs are comfortable in this and therefore before getting into this one has to be clear about the road map. This generally also requires lot of travelling. One has to always achieve and sometimes surpass the ‘targets’ set by the organizations so that becomes a challenge. However, with good support and skills one can achieve the same. Many PhDs who have transitioned into this domain have become very successful.

 ·         Application Scientists – This is also a good domain for people who are technically good and like travelling but are averse to chasing ‘numbers’. Many big organizations like ThermoFisher, Illumina etc. have an army of application scientists. Initially one has to be in the field but slowly one climbs up the ladder and is required to manage the team of scientists.


·         Scientific writing/Editing – For many PhDs who are technically good and love reading /writing and have a good command over English can look at this option. Many companies in India like Cactus communications advertize for editors/sub editors in various fields of life science.



·         Recruitment – Although, this is probably the least favorite among the PhDs but it does provide another job alternative. Many recruitment agencies hire PhDs to scan and analyze multiple CVs they get so that the right person is shortlisted for the right job interviews.



·         IP/Technology Transfer – This is another exciting domain. Although, this requires some experience and few additional courses/skill sets but can be very rewarding both financially and professionally.

There might be other alternatives available to the PhDs. My aim here was not to provide an exhaustive list but to give a glimpse of the avenues present. All of the above options carry their respective pros and cons. So, it is imperative, that an individual first assesses himself before selecting one of the paths. Good luck to all present and budding PhDs

Funding the Indian Life Science start-ups – a perspective

The new ‘start-up’ culture developing in India is a good sign. Investors are getting more interested in this space; however, the investors also need to look beyond the e-commerce space. Many life science based organizations can be a good bet for middle to long run outlook. Life science offers a big arena to potential investors. From drug discovery companies to Bioinformatics organizations looking to disruptive technologies to cater to the ever increasing healthcare needs.  Although life science domain requires a considerably longer gestation period yet there are companies or technologies that can give a quicker return on investment. Investment from a well meaning ‘patient’ investor(s) can be a force multiplier. The idea of an ‘ideal’ investor is not very difficult to fathom. Good investment can really turn around a company faster as compared to, let’ say, if the start-up wanted to scale up through only internal accruals. 

Life Science organizations require highly skilled manpower. The technology used is ever evolving hence there is a big scope for right investment in the right organizations. The chance of ‘fly-by night’ operators in this domain is slim or negligible. With newer breakthroughs in hardware and better understanding of the human genome, smarter drugs, accurate diagnosis-prognosis are all in the realm of reality. Personalized/Precision medicine is the new buzz word which includes not only advances in medicine but also diagnostics, bio-IT, genomics, proteomics etc. Start-up organizations working in all the above mentioned mini-domains ultimately would cater to the ocean of better healthcare. Therefore the success of many of these organizations would depend on how the investor community looks at this space and helps it grow more thereby not only creating jobs but also giving India  the ‘knowledge-edge’ that many of the intellectuals talk about as our strength.

I believe that the start-up revolution in the bioscience space in India has not even started but if nurtured well it has the potential to turn around and give India its next ‘Life Science Google/Alphabet’

Jobs in the Life science Industry in India – It is a mirage

India is a country where academic excellence is given a priority from the very childhood. Parents encourage children sometimes even going to the extent of coaxing them to leave other activities and focus on ‘studies’ to get into good colleges and get a good degree (read engineering/medicine). People who follow their passion for science then go on to complete higher education degrees (PhD, PostDoc) in the hope that their ‘youth’ spent in the labs would guarantee them good job opportunity in the future. However, that is not the case now as many genuinely talented, knowledgeable and deserving candidates are running helter skelter to cling on to whatever comes their way thereby even sacrificing or ‘adapting’ to the newer ‘job’ requirements. 

Consider this, an engineering graduate gets into a job in the fertile age of around 22-23, whereas a Life science PhD holder gets into an active meaningful job only after the age of 30 and thereafter the real struggle begins. Although, the Indian Life science industry has evolved off late but in reality they have not helped the life science job seekers. There are very few Government sponsored jobs and mostly the industry caters to the demand. There was once a time when Biotechnology used to be compared with the Information technology in terms of the revenue generation scope and job creation. Alas, the biotechnology sector has fallen way back. It would be futile to expect all research driven opportunities coming their way for the PhDs but the ancillary positions which require scientific acumen should be promoted. Many PhDs have good communication and have good business skills, they should be considered for positions that require such skills rather than only looking for people with MBAs. 

There is a case for the Human resource (HR) departments to also gear up with these eventualities. Many a times HR people are not trained to look for talent but they only go with matching the key words required for the job with the candidate’s CV! This is a narrow way to approach the talent hunt and in my opinion this needs to be overhauled. 

We would need to find out solution to this mess otherwise not many people will take up science or pursue research in the future.

Yes! Enzyme it is……….

My connect with the world of enzymes started during my Biochemistry graduation days learning about enzymes, enzyme kinetics, enzyme inhibition (competitive, uncompetitive, non-competitive) etc. 

Little did I know that enzymes would play such a diverse role in today’s society! Enzymes and their applications can be found in a variety of industries and are steadily increasing. Paper & pulp, leather, detergents, fuel production, food & feed, waste management, chemical industry, textile, pharma etc. are now using enzymes in a massive manner. At present, almost 4000 enzymes are known, and of these, approximately 200 microbial original types are used commercially. 

The advancement in biotechnology especially in the field of genomics and protein engineering, have opened new vistas of enzyme applications and are experiencing major R&D initiatives resulting in not only development of new and novel products but also improvement in process performance. Eg. Oxidation resistant alpha amylase (Duramyl, Novo Nordisk), oxidation resistant protease (Everlase, Novo Nordisk) are providing newer applications for the enzyme processes.

Enzymes due to their property of stereo-selectivity, chemo and region-selectivity have found tremendous usage in the production of important drugs. Along with the above mentioned properties, the enzymes also display mild reaction conditions, have fewer side reactions, high efficiency and are environmental friendly. These lead to overall lower cost of production for the industry. In pharma and medicine, apart from their usage in drug production, enzymes are also used as analytical tools (glucose oxidase – blood sugar, uricase – uric acid detection), therapeutic agents (asparaginase – leukemia, collagenase – skin cancer or as enzyme replacement therapies – Ceredase, Genzyme corp. for Gaucher’s disease).

The enzymes are also playing a major role in biofuel industry. Green and clean energy is the motto of today’s policy makers. Recently, Novozymes (World’s largest enzyme manufacturer) along with Beta Renewables, a cellulosic biofuels company, have opened the world’s first commercial-scale refinery to produce bioethanol from agricultural residues and energy crops (http://ens-newswire.com/2013/10/14/worlds-first-refinery-turning-farm-waste-to-bioethanol-opens/)

The field of enzymes is fascinating as well as challenging. With proper Government policy and investments this industry can progress and make mankind live a healthier, cleaner and happier life!