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By Mary Collins

The last week of October I traveled to Cambridge, MA for Novartis International BioCamp. Novartis brought together 60 post-bachelor students from 26 countries to gain insight into biotech and pharmaceutical company’s operations. Each day there were lectures and panel discussion on different aspects of biotech, including venture capital, regulatory affairs, business development and strategic alliances. As a participant, I was matched into a group of 5 students and we were responsible for inventing a technology and preparing a business plan for our company based around our new technology (similar to the Fundamentals of the Biotechnology program, except we only had four days).

When I started graduate school I loved science and thought I wanted to go on to become a PI. However, after my second year I thought I might want to get away from the bench, so I started to explore (what have been called) ‘alternative’ careers. Part of my exploration was through the Fundamentals course where I expected to learn more about the business side of biotech, which I did. After completing the course I thought a job in business or product development would be a good place to start my career. At Novartis BioCamp, I expected to hear more about these things and, most importantly, how to pursue such a career at a company like Novartis. While I did gain insight into business career paths, the information I learned about how scientific research is done at Novartis was much more inspiring.

The branch of Novartis located in Cambridge is named Novartis Institutes for Biomedical Research (NIBR), it is their global pharmaceutical research center. During a two-part lecture, Dr. Carol Manahan, Associate Director in the Education Office at NIBR explained to us about the specific approach NIBR takes toward innovation. Their research operates around two main objectives: bring medicine to the clinic rapidly and establish a new grammar for drug discovery. NIBR operates separately from all marketing groups so that they can focus on innovation. The thinking is to “be innovative and the money will follow”.

To fulfill these objectives when selecting programs to peruse, NIBR’s business model strictly focuses on those that fill an unmet medical need and those that there is clear understanding of the mechanism of disease. This is interesting if you think about the criteria as two continuums. Disease such as hypertension would be less interesting due to the wide availability of effective medication, while Alzheimer’s disease programs would be within their business model. Also, NIBR conducts research to better understand the mechanism of disease to further drug discovery in these areas with groups that specifically focus on a signaling pathway that is involved in many disease mechanisms.

Over and over we were told that the driving force in their company is innovation. As the week went on I found myself drawn into the science and the realization of producing medicines that cure diseases, instead of the business aspects that make this possible. Perhaps it is not bench science that I want to move away from, but translational research that I want to move toward. I went to BioCamp thinking I would find an avenue into the business of biotech and I came out with a renewed love for science.

Novartis BioCamp 2009 Lunch and Networking