Professional Development Lecture 4 A career in Industry vs. Academia Peter Rose Jan 30, Professional Development Series

Agenda What differentiates industrial from academic jobs? Where do You fit in? Jan 30, 2009Professional Development Series2

My Background 3-year apprenticeship at Bayer Ph.D. at Technical University of Munich in Organic & Computational Chemistry Postdoc at UC Irvine in Quantum Chemistry Agouron Pharmaceuticals, La Jolla – Started as PI on NIH grant, hired 4 postdocs – Became Department Head Computational Chem. & Bioinformatics – First product launch: Viracept – Agouron acquired Alanex Corporation – Acquired by Warner-Lambert/Park-Davis – Acquired by Pfizer – Pfizer acquired Pharmacia Scientific Lead, Protein Data Bank, UCSD Jan 30, 2009Professional Development Series3

Drug Discovery & Development Jan 30, 2008Professional Development Series4 Cost ~ $ Million Patent life: 20 years

Industry vs. Academia Freedom Funding Timescale and Change Products Team work Work environment Career advancements Salary & benefits Biotech vs. Pharma Postdoc: Industry vs. Academia Jan 30, 2008Professional Development Series5

1 – Be your own boss? Industry You choose the company and department – but choices may be limited (currently) Choose your boss carefully, if you can! Market drives product needs You will be assigned to projects Overall goal of project most likely set from start Few opportunities to pursue side tracks Academia Driven by your ideas and research experience Dependent on – Available positions – Departmental research directions – Funding opportunities Ability to pursue side tracks can lead to new discoveries Jan 30, 2009Professional Development Series6

2 – Funding Industry Startups – Grants (SBIR, STTR) – Venture capital – IPO Biotech – Collaborations with large companies – milestone payments or royalties Large Pharma – Profitable – Patent expiration an issue Academia Expected to bring funding through grants University takes a large portion of your grant as overhead Research directions may be influenced by funding opportunities Jan 30, 2009Professional Development Series7

3 – Timescale and Change Industry Time pressure Short-term market driven focus Pragmatic problem solving Fast fail paradigm – proof of concept (Go/No-Go decision) Stage gates – portfolio management (decision points) Frequent change in direction due to competition, regulatory changes, failure in clinic Reorganization, Mergers & Acquisitions Academia Longer-term focus Grant renewals Side projects In-depth investigations Jan 30, 2008Professional Development Series8

4 – Product Industry Primary product a drug, diagnostic, hardware, software Technological advancements Industrialization of processes (faster, cheaper, better quality, …) Focus on achieving product success on time Unmet clinical need & market size Focus on “Block Buster” drugs Academia Primary product is publication Number of citations Novel research - breakthrough discoveries Teaching and training Can focus on commercially unattractive projects, i.e. third world diseases Jan 30, 2009Professional Development Series9

5 – Team Work Industry Multidisciplinary project teams Need to develop interest and knowledge in other disciplines Successful project outcome is the goal Academia More individualistic and specialized in a domain Competition for tenure, prestige, grants Fewer, more selective collaborations Jan 30, 2009Professional Development Series10

Multidisciplinary Drug Discovery Example Biological Aspects Jan 30, 2008Professional Development Series11 Biological Target (enzyme, receptor, transporter) Binding affinity Selectivity Cell Permeability Active/ Passive Transport Protein Binding Absorption Distribution Metabolism ToxicityEfficacy Dose Animal Model Drug-Drug Interactions Excretion Bioavailability CytotoxicityCell-based assays

6 – Work Environment Industry More structured Core working hours Mentoring Interaction with peers from many disciplines and age groups Regular project meetings Infrastructure streamlined to do your work Various service departments help with purchasing, IT, instrumentation, facilities Delegate work Professional project management Goal setting and performance evaluations Academia Informal Flexible schedule Teaching and mentoring Interaction with students, postdocs, researchers Need to build your own infrastructure to a large extend, but you have choices (equipment, computers) Jan 30, 2009Professional Development Series12

7 – Information Sharing Industry Patents, trade secrets, non- disclosure agreements Freedom to operate All public disclosures need to be approved by Legal Department Cannot show chemical structures or other proprietary information unless patented and approved by Legal. May need to use surrogate data in publications Academia Free access to data Open access literature Websites Publish or perish Review process High impact journals Jan 30, 2009Professional Development Series13

8 – Career Advancements Industry Dual career track in larger organizations – Research track Research Associate (B.S., M.S.) Research Scientist (Ph.D.) Senior Scientist Principal Scientist Research Fellow – Management track Manager Associate Director Director Vice President – Note: Titles are not comparable among companies Academia Before tenure – Postdoc – Assistant professor After tenure – Associate professor – Full professor – Dean, Department Chair, … Jan 30, 2009Professional Development Series14

9 – Salary & Benefits Industry Good salary and benefits Consulting work – often conflict of interest Travel & conference - business-essential Training courses – Technical – Leadership Academia Salary ok after tenure Opportunity for consulting work Entrepreneurship – UCSD CONNECT Frequent travel & conferences Sabbaticals Jan 30, 2009Professional Development Series15

10 – Biotech vs. Large Pharma Biotech R & (D in collaboration) Concerns – Burn rate – All eggs in one basket – Lack of expertise and resources in some areas of drug discovery – Uncertainty Opportunities – Fast decision making – Become the leader in your area of expertise – Cutting edge science and technology – Stock options Pharma R & D, L & D (licensing & development) Concerns – Slow decision making, committees, rules – Time to market – Increasing cost – Success-rate of clinical trials – Regulations: FDA, MediCare, … – Merger & acquisitions – Reorganization & downsizing – Outsourcing Opportunities – Resources are available to do your job – Transfers within company – Research and management track – Higher salary and better benefits Jan 30, 2009Professional Development Series16

Postdoc Industry Apply your current research expertise to a problem in drug discovery Might be a good choice if you are unsure about your career path May lead to a permanent job Does the company have a postdoc program? How much independent research can you do? Can you publish your results? Talk to former or current postdocs in the company, read their publications Academia Choose a research topic that is different/complementary to your Ph.D. research, i.e. – Biology Structural Biology – Genomics Proteomics – Experimental Computational Take risks – explore cutting edge research Equal opportunities for industrial and academic careers Jan 30, 2008Professional Development Series17

Where do You fit in? Are you passionate about your research? What is your area of expertise? Do you like to work as part of a team? Do you prefer hands-on research over writing papers? How much time do you want to dedicate to your job? How important is a flexible schedule to you? Jan 30, 2008Professional Development Series18

Types of Industrial Research/Careers Small Molecule Drugs Biologics Vaccines Diagnostics Medical Devices Other – Scientific software – Intellectual property/patents – Project management – Business development & strategic alliances Jan 30, 2008Professional Development Series19

Jan 30, 2009Professional Development Series20 Discussion/Questions?