Professional Development Lecture 4 A career in Industry vs. Academia Peter Rose [email protected] Feb 11, 2011 1 Professional Development Series
Dec 14, 2014
Professional DevelopmentLecture 4
A career in Industry vs. Academia
Peter [email protected]
Feb 11, 2011 1Professional Development Series
Agenda
• What differentiates industrial from academic jobs?
• Where do You fit in?
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My Background• 3-year apprenticeship at Bayer• Ph.D. at Technical University of Munich in Organic & Computational
Chemistry• Postdoc at UC Irvine in Theoretical 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– Agouron by Warner-Lambert/Park-Davis– Warner-Lambert/Park-Davis acquired by Pfizer– Pfizer acquired Pharmacia (and others …)
• Scientific Lead, Protein Data Bank, UCSD
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Drug Discovery & Development
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http://www.boehringer-ingelheim.com/corporate/research/drug_discovery_process/drug_discovery_process.html
Cost ~ $800-900 MillionPatent 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
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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
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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
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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
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4 – ProductIndustry• Primary product a drug,
diagnostic, hardware, software, service
• 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
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5 – Team WorkIndustry• 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
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Multidisciplinary Drug DiscoveryExample Biological Aspects
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Biological Target (enzyme, receptor,
transporter)Binding affinity
Selectivity
Cell
Permeability Active/Passive Transport
Protein Binding
Absorption
Distribution
Metabolism
ToxicityEfficacy
Dose
Animal Model
Drug-DrugInteractions
Excretion
Bioavailability
CytotoxicityCell-basedassays
6 – Work EnvironmentIndustry• 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 more choices (equipment, computers)
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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
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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, …
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9 – Salary & Benefits Industry• Good salary and benefits• 401K match• Stock options• Travel & conference -
business-essential• Training courses
– Technical– Leadership
Academia• Salary ok after tenure• Opportunity for consulting
work• Entrepreneurship
– UCSD CONNECT
• Frequent travel & conferences
• Sabbaticals
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10 – Biotech vs. Large PharmaBiotech• 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
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PostdocIndustry• 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?
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
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Network (i.e. LinkedIn) with former or current postdocs, read their publications.
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?
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Types of Industrial Research/Careers
• Small Molecules• Biologics• Vaccines• Diagnostics• Medical Devices• Other
– Scientific software– Project management– Intellectual property/patents– Business development & strategic alliances– Scientific writing
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Discussion/Questions?Further reading:Searls DB, 2009 Ten Simple Rules for Choosing between Industry and Academia. PLoS Comput Biol 5(6): e1000388.