A crucial piece of advice for biotech founders is to interact with patients as early as possible. This 'patient first' approach helps uncover unmet needs in their treatment journey, providing a more powerful and differentiated perspective than focusing solely on the scientific or commercial landscape.
Beyond lab space, a key value of communities like Lab Central is the informal network of experienced operators. Founders gain crucial, on-demand advice for non-scientific challenges like HR, finance, and accounting simply by consulting with peers from other startups in the same building.
When seeking partnerships, biotechs should structure their narrative around three core questions pharma asks: What is the modality? How does the mechanism work? And most importantly, why is this the best differentiated approach to solve a specific clinical challenge and fit into the competitive landscape?
To get a 'view into the innovation,' Servier began sponsoring programs at Cambridge's Lab Central in 2017, long before establishing its own R&D site in the US. This demonstrates a long-term corporate strategy of embedding in key ecosystems early to build relationships and monitor emerging science.
Winning a 'Golden Ticket' from a major pharma company like Servier provides more than just lab space. It acts as a powerful external validation of the science, which in turn helps the startup gain credibility to win additional awards and attract investment from other major players like Eli Lilly and Ono Pharma.