Research: Causes for Biotech Failure.

[Mahmourg at mgmtstd1.lan.mcgill.ca]

Fellow BIONET  users:

I am doing a research project for the Faculty of Management at McGill University, Montreal, Canada.

The object  of this query is to determine the causes for the high failure rates among emerging biotechnology companies in 
Canada and  the  U.S.  In  particular, the  focus will be limited to those  companies which can not leave  the "start-up  phase" 
and  enter  the growth  phase. The  consistent lack of economic  viability  among such entreprises is symptomatic  of serious 
shortcomings in the microenvironment  in which these "one-product" entreprises operate.

Three possible  causes for this trend involve the following players:

1.  the  entreprise itself:  management / financial / marketing  problems
2.  the  investment  community: scientist ignorance / emphasis on the short term.  
3.  the market / customer:  failure to predict the market demand and size.

The Question[s]:
What is the cause  for the failure?
What is the possible  solution[s] ?

Your participation is pivotal as the printed literature does not discuss the hard issues involved with entrepreneurship in the 
biotech area. 

 I am looking for opinions,  comments on the above issues.  Let me know  your  particular situation and what environment you 
were in.  What type of player were you, [1], [2] or  [3] as defined above?.   

I  am  eager to see more opportunities for entreprising  biologists.

George Mahmourides
E-Mail: mahmourg at mgmtstd1.lan.mcgill.ca