Business Concepts for Life Sciences : Assessment Questions

Module	Track	ID	Question
Module 0: (Introduction)
Module 1: Introduction to Strategy
	Analyze a Company	Q3	Choose a company from the suggested list below or select a company of interest. Identify the company’s strategy from their website (refer to the video in the last unit, if you haven’t already). How would you describe the company’s value proposition? a. Why is the work important? a. What is unique about the technology or work product? a. Who has a stake in the outcomes of the work and what do they value? Global Blood Therapeutics Intersect ENT Juno Therapeutics Five Prime Therapeutics Celgene Merck
	Analyze a Company	Q4	Describe a company’s organizational context. a. Where in the development cycle is the enterprise? b. What is the structure of the enterprise (including funding)? c. What resources are available to achieve objectives? Continue with the company you selected in Lesson 1, or select a new company. For your convenience, here is the list: Global Blood Therapeutics Intersect ENT Juno Therapeutics Five Prime Therapeutics Celgene Merck
	Analyze a Company	Q5	What is the company’s 1 – 3 year strategy?
	Analyze a Company	Q6	How would you describe the value proposition for your research project? a. Why is the work important? b. What is unique about the technology or expertise? Compare this to (1) other academic labs and (2) research labs in the biopharma sector. c. Who has a stake in the outcomes of the work, and what do they value?
	My Strategic Plan	Q7	What can you say about the organizational context of your lab or your PI’s lab? a. Where in the development cycle are the different projects you are working on in the lab (from experimental design to publication)? b. What is the structure of the lab (including funding)? c. What resources are available to achieve objectives?
	My Strategic Plan	Q8	What is the lab’s 1 – 3 year strategy or the 1-3 year strategy for your research?
Module 2: Business Development
	Analyze a Company	Q9	Research a company and write down some of the company’s gaps. Continue with the company you selected in Module 1, in which you analyzed the strategy and organizational context, or select a new company. For your convenience, here is the list: Global Blood Therapeutics Intersect ENT Juno Therapeutics Five Prime Therapeutics Celgene Merck
	Analyze a Company	Q10	Pick one of the gaps to fill. What could another company bring to the table? (How would they fill the gap?)
	Analyze a Company	Q11	What incentives does the other company have to partner?
	Analyze a Company	Q12	How would you build a deal to fill a gap? (Which vehicle?) Continue with the company you selected in the last Lesson (4), in which you identified gaps, or select a new company. For your convenience, here is the list: Global Blood Therapeutics Intersect ENT Juno Therapeutics Five Prime Therapeutics Celgene Merck
	Analyze a Company	Q13	How could you make it friendlier for partnering? (Executing the deal)
	Analyze a Company	Q14	Who do you go to for the deal? (Executing the deal)
	Analyze a Company	Q15	How would you measure success?
	My Strategic Plan	Q16	Determine if you or your PI’s lab is ready to develop a new area of expertise, improve a technology, or develop a patent. Write down some gaps in the research.
	My Strategic Plan	Q17	Pick one of the gaps to fill. What could another group bring to the table? (How would they fill the gap?)
	My Strategic Plan	Q18	What incentives does that group have?
	My Strategic Plan	Q19	How would you build a deal with a collaborator? (Which vehicle?)
	My Strategic Plan	Q20	How could you make it friendlier for partnering? (Executing the deal)
	My Strategic Plan	Q21	Who do you go to for the deal? (Executing the deal)
	My Strategic Plan	Q22	How would you measure success?
Module 3: Strategic Collaborations
	Analyze a Company	Q23	How would you describe your company’s value proposition? (This is key to determining a potential partner.)
	Analyze a Company	Q24	What is your company’s population of interest?
	Analyze a Company	Q25	Building on Lesson 4, where you selected gaps to fill, now identify 1-2 potential strategic collaborations for your company. Remember they can be labs, organizations, or other companies. Write down the potential collaborators.
	Analyze a Company	Q26	What are the potential goals of each partner? a. What might your company aim to achieve (e.g., drug development, access to chemical libraries, publications, etc.)? b. What are goals for your potential partner company?
	Analyze a Company	Q27	What are each partner’s resources, capabilities and constraints?
	Analyze a Company	Q28	(advanced topic) How would your side handle confidentiality?
	My Strategic Plan	Q29	How would you describe your lab’s value proposition? (This is key to determining a potential partner.)
	My Strategic Plan	Q30	What is the population of interest for your lab?
	My Strategic Plan	Q31	Building on Lesson 4, where you picked gaps to fill, now identify 1-2 potential strategic collaborations for your lab. Remember they can be other labs, organizations, or companies. Write down the potential collaborators.
	My Strategic Plan	Q32	Q32. What are the potential goals of each partner? a. What might your lab aim to achieve? b. What are goals and gaps for your potential partner organization?
	My Strategic Plan	Q33	What are each partner’s resources, capabilities, and constraints?
	My Strategic Plan	Q34	Apply the RACI framework to one of your research projects. The RACI framework helps you indicate who is Responsible, Accountable, Confided, and Informed in your projects. This is best applied for multi-person projects, but can also be applied for solo projects.
	My Strategic Plan	Q35	Dr. Tashker mentioned 4 key commonalities of good influencing behavior. Name 2 of the 4Apply the RACI framework to one of your research projects. The RACI framework helps you indicate who is Responsible, Accountable, Confided, and Informed in your projects. This is best applied for multi-person projects, but can also be applied for solo projects.
Module 4: Strategy Toolkits
	Analyze a Company	Q36	Select a tool to analyze your company of interest (SWOT / PEST / Four Corners), and explain the reasons you chose that tool to assess the company. Continue with the company you’ve been analyzing, or select a new company. For your convenience, here is the list: Global Blood Therapeutics Intersect ENT Juno Therapeutics Five Prime Therapeutics Celgene Merck
	Analyze a Company	Q37	What are the benefits of doing that specific analysis?
	Analyze a Company	Q38	What is the external landscape for that specific company?
	Analyze a Company	Q39	Based on the analysis, what is a possible next move for the company?
	My Strategic Plan	Q40	Select a tool to analyze your lab or your PI’s lab – SWOT / PEST / Four Corners. Explain the reasons you chose that tool to assess your lab or your research project.
	My Strategic Plan	Q41	What are the benefits of doing that specific analysis?
	My Strategic Plan	Q42	What is the external landscape for you/the lab?
	My Strategic Plan	Q43	Based on the analysis, what is a possible next move for the lab or for you?
Module 5: Finance
	Analyze a Company	Q44	What statement do you use to find information on revenue and costs? Operating loss? Note: this information may be important if you are considering employment at a company.
	Analyze a Company	Q45	Write down the formula for calculating the burn rate. Now, calculate the number of months of cash for the company you are analyzing.
	Analyze a Company	Q46	What is the company’s cash flow?
	Analyze a Company	Q47	What is their gross margin?
	Analyze a Company	Q48	Dr. Christine Siu talked about how companies financially evaluate projects. Name 3 of the metrics by which projects are assessed financially.
	My Strategic Plan	Q49	What would you include in the forecast of your budget? Or what do you think your PI includes?
	My Strategic Plan	Q50	Calculate a rough burn rate for your project or for your lab.
	My Strategic Plan	Q51	What opportunities costs have you considered in setting up or managing your research projects? If you’re leading a lab or group, what opportunity costs have you considered in establishing or managing your lab?
	My Strategic Plan	Q52	Explain ways in which your overall strategy can impact your financial planning.