During times when news from the economic sector seems really gloomy it was refreshing to hear a motivating speech that looks at opportunities instead of problems in the true spirit of entrepreneurship. Cynthia A. Fischer, Chairperson, Massachusetts Biotech Council, President and CEO, BioMed 20/20 Technologies Inc. made a riveting case for Biotech as the new frontier for entrepreneurial opportunity. Her speech at TiE-Boston’s monthly event in Burlington Marriott on October 22nd titled “Vision to Action: a Biotech Entrepreneurial Experience” bolstered the spirit of entrepreneurs present. “You may think I am crazy but in this economy I do see several wonderful opportunities for entrepreneurs” said Cynthia. The meeting had a diverse audience including entrepreneurs, students, professional, executives, professors and doctors.

The meeting began with an introduction to Tie-Boston and an acknowledgement of the event sponsors by Gautam Prakash. Anil Khurana proceeded to introduce Cynthia Fisher. Fisher began her talk by first recognizing the accomplishments of the various Indus entrepreneurs that she met during the networking event that preceded the talk. “I am impressed and overwhelmed by the accomplishments many of you have made in your respective companies,” said Fisher.

Fisher addressed the need for the establishment of the mass Biotech council. “We realized that Massachusetts losing grounds to clusters in San Diego and San Francisco in converting biotech ideas to businesses, even though we have significant research dollars,” she said. “If we are successful in attaining our objectives, we have the potential to create over 100000 jobs in Massachusetts in the next few years” said Fisher.

As a successful entrepreneur who is currently on her third company, Cynthia Fisher outlined the entire process of building a successful company in the Biotech arena. “At the very early stages it is crucial to clearly articulate your vision and get the buy-in of others in the field” said Fisher. She emphasized the core principles of the business like intellectual property, building the right team, and the need for good accounting and legal partners.

She outlined many challenges that she faced in the process of building her company. “The idea that stem cells could revolutionize blood transfusion created some insecurity for organizations like the Red Cross and thus public policies were being made that could have a major affect on our business. We reallocated our marketing budget of nearly $1 million towards working with the congress to influence public policy. This was an unanticipated challenge”, said Fisher. “But the experience also taught me clearly that science does not happen in a vacuum. What we do creates an impact on society and scientists should be aware of this. Most importantly it also showed me that people in the government are sincerely willing to help.”

There were many interesting questions from the audience including one from Ramesh Kapur on who would be the better gubernatorial candidate from the Biotech perspective. “I think the good news is that all candidates do understand the importance of Biotech industry and no matter who gets in office they will support our needs. It is also up to us to keep up the momentum” said Fisher.

A cure or prevention for every disease with genetic cause, an ability to predict susceptibility for a disorder/disease based on genetic make up, a custom made drug guaranteed to work and have no side effects, an organ or body part created in a lab, etc are some of the visions of the Biotech & Health Science industries. This industry offers tremendous potential for entrepreneurs to put together different pieces of the puzzle and build new companies. Dr. Dinesh Patel, the convener of the Biotech initiative should be commended for bringing this wonderful speaker to the Tie-Boston meeting.

|