Thanks to everyone who joined us for the latest R&D Leadership Network* Virtual Happy Hour! After a kickoff discussion on the dynamics of funding and partnerships during the COVID-19 pandemic, we split into breakout sessions to catch up informally.
Our team loved sharing “best quotes” from the evening — here are some memorable ones:
“This is going to be a great year for scientific innovation.”
On hiring biotech CEOs:
“Zoom is a new skill that they should be assessed on!”
“CRO relationships have kept us going.”
On academic collaborators:
“Their labs are shut down but their brains and IP are ready.”
Effect of COVID-19 on private capital:
“Investors are thinking, ‘we do need vaccines and therapies.’ They have a greater appreciation for biotechs and what we do.”
Challenges of remote work:
“I’ll schedule a 30-minute Zoom for what could have been a 5-minute water cooler conversation.”
On startups:
“The fact that no one is traveling is allowing [VCs] to spend more time working on more potential companies … company creation has not slowed down at all.”
Upsides of focusing the pipeline:
“[Our R&D teams] have 1-2 missions and they are all just passionately going after it, and loving it. I have never seen this group this happy in a long time!”
*The Science Exchange R&D Leadership Network is an advisory group focused on advancing Science Exchange’s mission of accelerating scientific discovery through connection.
If you are an R&D leader and are interested in networking opportunities with peers in the biotech & pharma industry , please reach out to us to learn how to join!