COURSE NUMBER: MBA295J.1 (formerly MBA 290T)
This class is cross-listed
with the
COURSE TITLE: Entrepreneurship in Biotechnology
UNITS OF CREDIT: 2
INSTRUCTORS: Dr. Larry Lasky
E-MAIL ADDRESSES: larsky@earthlink.net (unless
I get a berkeley.edu address)
CLASS WEB PAGE LOCATION: Catalyst
MEETING DAY(S)/TIME: Tuesday 2:00-4:00 PM
PREREQS: MBA Core curriculum or permission of an
instructor
CLASS FORMAT: Introductory lectures, industry guest expert
lecturers, case studies, and in-class analysis of strategies and tactics
relevant to the life science industry.
As a final project, groups will prepare a business plan for a new life
science-based venture in the biotech or biomedical device areas
REQUIRED
BASIS FOR GRADE:
Grades will be based on class
participation (~ 20%), qualitative and quantitative work
done between classes (~ 30%) and the final project, a
business plan for a new life science-based company (~ 50%). Students in this course are from the MBA
program in its various forms, Engineering, Public Health, and often UCSF and
Molecular and Cell Biology. Final
project teams are multidisicplinary and rely heavily
on the breadth of expertise of the team members. The instructor will help teams find projects.
ABSTRACT OF COURSE'S CONTENT
AND OBJECTIVES:
The Haas Entrepreneurship in
Biotechnology class will provide students an introduction to the complexities
and unique problems of starting a life sciences company. It is designed for
both entrepreneurs and students who may someday work in a biotechnology or
medical device startup. Students will be
exposed to the topics most critical for successfully founding, financing and
operating a life science company, and will be expected to perform many of the
same tasks that founders would normally undertake. Discussions with
life-science entrepreneurs, case studies of recent companies and hands-on work
developing entrepreneurial endeavors will all be utilized.
The first classes will
provide an overview of the industry based on current trends and those of the
past 20 years as well as on how to recognize fundable opportunities. The middle section of the course will focus
on functional and operational issues facing small life science companies
including obtaining financing, working with venture capitalists, bringing ideas
to the clinic, intellectual property, and business development and strategic
partnering. The final portion of the
course will be oriented to the preparation and presentation of actual business
plans. Well in advance of the project's
final due date, teams will be asked to provide a written executive summary and
one or more oral presentations. These
exercises will help teams understand the strengths and weaknesses of their new
venture, and help them to prepare a more successful plan.
This class is appropriate for
students who would like to start their own enterprise, and just as importantly,
those who believe that they may someday work in a small life science-based
company. In both cases, you will learn
what drives the start up and on-going operations of these fascinating and
exciting enterprises.
BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH:
Larry Lasky
is currently a partner at U.S. Venture Partners. He has founded several
companies Proteolix, Oncomed,
Bioverdant, Tetralogic.
Before becoming a v.c., he
spent 20 years as a scientist at Genentech working in various fields including
vaccines, inflammation, cellular signaling and anti-tumor monoclonal antibody
production. Two of his projects, vaccines for herpes simplex virus (HSV) and
HIV, went into phase 3 clinical trials, with the HSV vaccine showing significant
efficacy. During his time at Genentech, he was a standing member of the
research review committee, which had oversight over all of research, and he
retired as the Genentech Fellow, the highest scientific position at the
company. Before Genentech, he was a founding scientist of the Genetics
Institute, one of the earliest biotechnology companies. He received his B.A.
and PhD in molecular biology from UCLA and did his postdoctoral studies at CalTech. His daughter is a sophomore at