A DIFFERENT GAME

RIDING THE ROLLER COASTER OF

BIOTECHNOLOGY
1979 Centocor led the way to euphoric rise of biotechnology 1980 Biotechnology investment soared 1991 Investors had poured billions into biotech firms however FDA cleared fewer than 30 biotech related drugs 1994 Centocor developed therapeutic and diagnostic drugs for cancer 1998 Centocor partnered with Eli Lilly 1999 Centocor was purchased by Johnson & Johnson

RIDING THE ROLLER COASTER OF

BIOTECHNOLOGY
Among

the Lessons: Understand the role of government The fate of many emerging technologies and companies within them rests with government decisions. Use partners Many new technologies, even for established firms, are very difficult to pursue on their own.

RIDING THE ROLLER COASTER OF

BIOTECHNOLOGY

Use flexible planning Companies have to be able to prepare for multiple futures. Employ new strategies for financial assessment Managers need new approaches to identify the value of the future businesses built on emerging technologies.

LIVING WITH PARADOX

A

strong commitment is necessary but you also have to keep your opinions open - Investments in emerging technologies should be viewed as creating a portfolio of options where the commitment of additional resources is subject to attaining defined milestones and resolving key uncertainties.

LIVING WITH PARADOX

Winners

are often pioneers, but most pioneers fail - A paradox that follows on the first is that the only way to arrive first in a new territory is to be a pioneer, and yet pioneers more often than not end up at the bottom of a gulch with arrows in their backs. - Companies in emerging technologies have to live with the balance between the promise and perils of pioneering.

LIVING WITH PARADOX

Strategies should build on existing competencies but organizational separation is often required for success - The very characteristics that have made large organizations successful create traps for them in managing emerging technologies. To avoid contamination of the new emerging technology business, companies often set up incubators, separate spinoffs or divisions where these business can grow and develop without the burdens of the mature parent. These separate organizations usually have different cultures, compensations structures, organizational designs and performance measures.

LIVING WITH PARADOX

Competition

is intense and brutal, and yet winning requires collaboration - Competition for emerging technologies can be brutal. With winner-take-all markets and firms that have staked their entire future on success, failure often is not an option. At the same time, no emerging technology company is an island. The success of a new gene therapy may depend on far-flung networks of researchers in specific fields.