Early-stage biotechs can benefit in their fundraising processes from considering how to help investors “triangulate” on a view of their technology / programs. On the scientific side, this means multiple experiments that elucidate the underlying biology around a new target...1/9
...or approach; multiple efficacy models if possible – often ex vivo work in human cells can be important, but in vivo models are usually essential as well (the more relevant to human disease the better – e.g., PDX models are more reassuring than cell line-derived...2/9
...xenografts, and investors favor animal models that more closely replicate onset, symptoms, and likely treatment paradigm of human disease); and external sources that validate the science and approach. These external sources can be academic publications, scientific...3/9
...advisors, data presented by competitors in the same space, equity analyst research reports on competing programs, market research you commissioned, etc. The more explicit you can be about how different lines of evidence support your science, the better. Too often...4/9
...companies fail to pull all the disparate threads together for investors. E.g., on the body of literature on a target, companies will often assume that just putting a group of publications in the data room is sufficient. That will get some people there; but others will...5/9
...never get around to reading them. So you can help them along by picking a handful of the most impactful and sending them, with a short explanation of why each of them is relevant. Similarly, when suggesting scientific advisors who can be helpful, note areas about which...6/9
...you feel each is most likely to opine. And even when you pull together your data room and give someone access, consider sending a short message that points out what’s in the data room. This can help trigger the investor to look immediately in the data room to pull up...7/9
...some enticing document, like a “Frequently Asked Questions” that can help accelerate their work. And make sure that the pitch itself does a strong job of laying out all the sources of validation and tying them together. Bonus: when you try to explicitly think through...8/9
...how various lines of evidence support your thesis, you are also likely to identify additional areas of inquiry that will strengthen it. 9/9
@SaraNayeem Fantastic thread! This is directed at early-stage biotechs. I volunteer for a disease org and want to create these resources for both investors + potential biopharma partners. What would you add to help someone kick the tires on a disease space from scratch?
@Calvsams Thank you for the kind words! Re: a new disease space, I'd say: pathogenesis; natural history; epidemiology; existing standard of care; patient journey / unmet needs; emerging therapeutic approaches. Re: patient journey, having some written descriptions by patients can be...