Recently, a blog post about garage biology in Silicon Valley got me thinking more about the role of the garage in life science start-ups. The pictures of tissue culture hoods in a garage warmed my heart and really opened my eyes to the possibilities of doing biology in nontraditional ways and locations. Many more eloquent people have been writing about this coming revolution of do-it-yourself biologists for the last few years, but I think that the idea may become the reality even faster than most expected.
As I started my small, virtual journey into the world of garage biology I quickly found groups like
DIYBio. I am impressed by their combination of virtual and real meet-ups that I feel are often lacking in the world of biotechnology start-ups. From DIYBio I was led to a local project in San Francisco called
BioCurious, which became the inspiration for this post. The idea behind BioCurious is to create a “new biology collaborative lab space”. In other words it’s time to move out of the garage. As listed on the
About page at BioCurious, they are using a similar model to other hackerspaces such as Hacker Dojo. A similar model can also be seen in the Tech Shop, which was recently the subject of a
New York Times article. Basically, members pay a monthly fee for access to lab space and equipment to work on their various projects, whether they are hobbies, bio-art projects or projects for a start-up company. I think a place to work on life science related projects in such a way is a logical extension of these other successful solutions, and will be a welcome addition to the life science community here in San Francisco.
What does this mean for start-ups in the life sciences in San Francisco? I think a place like BioCurious could be a great place to start a lean life science company. The general perception is that it requires a lot of money to get a bio start-up off the ground, as space and resources are so expensive. Not only would a place like BioCurious change that dynamic by providing cheap lab space, it will also provide a community and pooled resources that could have great value going forward. I haven’t had a chance to connect with those behind BioCurious but I hope to do so in the near future and can’t wait to see how things unfold. It would be great if the various life science communities in San Francisco, ranging from the DIYBio community to the more academic communities like QB3 and USCF, were able to cross-pollinate ideas and resources. I know there are groups trying to make this happen and I hope to have more updates on that in the future.
photo credit: odreiuqzide
Earlier this week was the BayBio 2010 conference titled “Life Science Innovation: Drivers and Barriers”. I wasn’t able to attend, but there were a lot of great updates on Twitter from a variety of sources such as BayBio and Michael Fitzhugh. From the updates it appears it was a great conference with a lot of interesting insights about the life sciences industry in general and in the Bay Area. (You can search for the hashtag #baybio to see a recap of the many great updates.)
One of the trends discussed at the meeting was the rise of companion diagnostics, or the strategy of integrating a diagnostic with a therapeutic. A classic example of such an approach is the HER2 test being used to select patients for Herceptin treatment. There are more and more examples of drugs failing to show therapeutic effect on a large, general patient population, but having significant effect on a targeted patient population identified by some diagnostic endpoint. It is effectively the first incarnation of personalized medicine.
The interesting thing about companion diagnostics is how quickly the idea has gained traction in just the last four years. In 2006 Steve Burrill was talking about how “theranostic” companies would be the next big thing in life sciences. That year I participated in the Idea to IPO class offered at UCSF in conjunction with Burrill & Company and worked on a business plan for just such a company combining a diagnostic with a therapeutic. I was surprised at the end of the course when much of the feedback we received from various venture capitalists was to get rid of the diagnostic portion and focus on the therapeutic. In our team’s mind the combined approach was part of the value proposition for that particular technology, but investor sentiment was clearly against it.
Fast forward to 2010 and the companion diagnostics approach can be seen from the smallest therapeutic company to the largest pharma company. In March, Roche held an investor day in New York to give an update on their pipeline developments. One key area that they discussed was their development of a BRAF mutation assay as a companion diagnostic to their BRAF inhibitor. They discussed other companion diagnostics and highlighted their strengths in diagnostic development going forward. Other examples of such practice can be found throughout big pharma, as companies recognize the value of reducing patient pool in exchange for a chance to have increased therapeutic effectiveness.
So what does this mean for life science start-ups? There are a lot of great diagnostic and platform technologies out there that are readily applicable to companion diagnostics. As a part of a larger strategy these start-ups could look at developing a product that could be used as a companion diagnostic. As many therapeutic companies do not have diagnostic expertise, this sort of project could lead to development partnerships, licensing, or even acquisition possibilities for start-ups in the diagnostic space. As a way to help get the ideas flowing there is a BayBio meeting next week focusing on personalized medicine, featuring venture capitalists and their interests in the field. While diagnostics have often been considered a lower priority than therapeutics in many investors’ portfolios, it appears that change is in the air.
photo credit:
One of the many benefits of living in San Francisco is being surrounded by exciting new start-ups, in fields ranging from new internet technologies to cutting-edge biotechnology. On any given week I can attend a seminar of a Nobel Prize winning scientist or attend a meet-up about lean software development. This blog is going to be my attempt to synthesize all of the exciting things that are going on in biotechnology start-ups with a heavy dose of insight from the world of Tech. I plan to explore a variety of areas including topics such as: the start-up cultures in Tech and Biotech, start-up funding, profiles of Bay Area life science start-up companies and garage biotechnology. If you have any suggestions for topics to address please let me know, as I’m always interested in learning something new. I look forward to getting the discussion started.