The Importance of Peer-Reviewed Publications for Biotech Startups
Typically, if you have progressed to an advanced degree in the sciences or engineering, or many other fields, you either have planned to - or already have undertaken - the writing of a manuscript for publication. In academia, it is abundantly clear that in order to advance your career, you must publish your work. But now, you and your colleagues are in the midst of exciting times at your newly created startup or small business - you shouldn’t worry about publishing in Nature or Science anymore, right? Many leading executives would disagree.
Benefit from Peer Review. No matter if it is to the NEJM or PLOS ONE, the submission of a manuscript for peer review can be a critically important step in a project or program. One where you get to have your work critiqued in detail by other scientists. Is it a flawless process? No. But it can often produce insights about your work or your conclusions or how you present them that you may not have even considered or provide a different, valuable perspective. Additionally, the “simple” act of writing a manuscript (or even preparing a poster for a meeting) can help you to identify holes or gaps in your results - gaps you likely would want to have filled before you make a presentation to potential partners or investors in your new enterprise. Equally as important, it can help you to think more critically about the way in which you present your results to interested parties.
Strengthen your IP position. A good patent attorney would likely tell many scientific startups that developing your intellectual property (IP) estate is a key to building value, and that patenting is about more than simply having something novel or non-obvious to a practitioner skilled in the art. It is also true that startups with solid patent protection stand a better chance of finding partners interested in licensing their programs. You would never publicly reveal, by publishing a paper or otherwise, your patentable information, prior to filing your patent. The process of writing a manuscript can help you to think about how to write about potential predictive examples of experiments that could be used in your patent filing strategy. Potentially, you could view the process of writing a manuscript, at one level, as how you define the critical components of your patentable invention.
Create positive PR flow. A new startup may not realize it at first, but founders and their colleagues attend meetings, present posters, and give talks to increase awareness of their brand. If the goal for your startups is to out-license your programs or be acquired, public relations (PR) portfolios are boosted by press releases concerning papers that have been accepted for publication. It tells others that 1) you have enough data to publish, 2) others have reviewed your data, and 3) it held up to some level of critical examination. Additionally, if you are publishing your data, you must have patent protection behind it.
Whether working at a startup or a more established business, writing a manuscript is much more than simply another item for your CV!
Next up, top reasons why a mid-sized biotech or pharma company should continue to publish...
