Setting up a biotech firm as a woman and a scientist

Born in a town near Rome, Laura Soucek leads a research laboratory at the Vall d’Hebron Institute of Oncology in Barcelona and a biotechnology company called Peptomyc, which is developing cancer drugs. Her only end goal from the very beginning: to improve patients’ lives. 

To do so, and to turn laboratory ideas into specific products available on the market, the SEBBM (Spanish Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology) has set up an Innovation and Entrepreneurship group, which Soucek coordinates. “The main difficulty we have is learning business tools from one day to the next, because they weren’t part of our training,” she shared with us in a conversation online. 

But the solutions to this issue proposed by the group vary widely. For Soucek, the key is taking advantage of the experience of some members of SEBBM or external organisations who have already taken the leap into entrepreneurship. “We want to take advantage of forums, platforms and anything we can put together ad hoc to help share all of those tools,” she adds. 

Women, resilient and organised

Women are a huge asset in this process, the expert says, as they share traits that can make them stronger and, above all, better at working as a team, hand in hand. “They are highly organised, driven to grow and support each other. Plus, they are very passionate and know how to communicate that passion. They’re also more sympathetic to their whole team, which helps them forge closer bonds and foster the team. Plus, they’re extremely competent because they have to work twice as hard to prove themselves. Women have learned to be resilient and they know how to negotiate. They have many skills to solve problems and turn them into opportunities,” Soucek says. 

However, despite having great potential and clear solutions to improve people’s health and lives, women are under-represented in upper management positions at companies and don’t seem to want to take the risk to start up their own company, either. What’s going on there? Are women more risk adverse? Soucek believes this is true, but that doesn’t make it a disadvantage. “It’s important to remember that being aware of the risks is half the battle. I think they will be twice as prepared. I hope this new group can help teach them how being cautious can make them stronger.” 

A new language for scientists

But the scientific community seems to need a bit more to take that leap into industry. The researcher explains that there are two important pillars: the first, vocabulary; the second, funding. She says that for a scientist to speak about business, they have to learn new vocabulary to share their project. “They’re things we aren’t used to doing,” she warns. On top of that, they need public funding to get the first ideas off the ground and support proof-of-concept to convince private investors that the product is worth their money. “But public funding isn’t efficient and I think we need to improve in this respect.” Once you reach this step, there’s still one aspect that is key for reaching the finish line. “With VCs, you have to find the right match between brave investors and entrepreneurs. They have to become one team working to carry out the project,” she advises. 

Soucek had a few words about the investment world and highlighted that things are changing and she is seeing more female investors in meetings. “We’re finally talking to women too, and that reinforces communication, boosts opportunities, feeds into the investment circle and encourages us to take more risks, which are necessary to the sector’s growth. I think we’re heading in the right direction.”  

Biotechnology is 60% women and everything seems to indicate, as it is a sector growing exponentially and that also saw a huge jump due to the pandemic, that letting female experts take the reins will increase companies’ chances of success. “Our presence is growing and we’re also on the right track there,” insists Soucek. 

Searching for talent

Companies need scientists and scientists, business. The group also plans to help forge alliances between business and laboratories to promote talent searches. For the researcher, this is a very important point. “Not all scientists want to be entrepreneurs, and perhaps it is also our job to find a CEO for the scientists, right? And to bring in the business side they need. In short, we want to help scientists set up companies,” she concludes.

            — What would you say to a female student who wants to set up a biotech company? 

            — First of all, the answer is to do it. Then, I would reassure her that other women are doing it and that is making us stronger every day.

By Agathe Cortes