The biotechnology sector is a booming sector of the economy that has seen tremendous success in the stock markets around the world over the years. Even though there have been a few downturns in recent times, it is an ever important sector of the economy, as the health of individuals depend squarely on it.
The pharmaceutical subsector is not left out of this success story. Many of the big players in the pharmaceutical world such as Pfizer, Roche, Gilead, Astra Zeneca and so on, all grew from mere start ups to multinational companies and established themselves as major brands world over, with lucrative stock market shares.
While the big players continue to dominate, the field is large enough to accommodate the entrepreneur market and pharmaceutical start ups considering the huge market the sector tends to. As at 2011, the World Health Organization (WHO) listed 12,420 different disease conditions and health problems which all require one form of drug treatment or product or the other. Aside from the huge market, patents are continually expiring on many drug brands, creating a new market for start ups and entrepreneurs to explore their production at cheaper rates.
Entrepreneur Market – Setting Up Your Pharmaceutical Start Up
Pharmaceutical startups are springing up by the day to explore the opportunities provided by the sector. As with most start ups, the failure rate is usually high. To ensure a successful launch it is important that the first steps taken are right. Here are some important tips on launching a pharmaceutical start up:
Funding
Funding is the lifeline of a start up. Most start up failures can be linked to their failure to secure the right funding and investments. The team should draw up a financing plan and explore all modalities towards securing funding for the projects. Sources of funding could be by contributions from shareholders, crowdfunding, loans, and grants.
You can also apply for small business funding options from top, reliable financial experts which provides access to different loan products for businesses. They do this by matching loan seekers with available lenders.
Assemble a Team
The first step is perhaps the most important step in the success of the pharmaceutical start up. Identifying the right team members will go a long way in dictating the success and the pace of the start up. Identify motivated business colleagues, pharmacists, medical representatives, technicians, marketers, business advisers, who are all interested in the success of the project and have a lot of wealth of experience, skills to bring to bear. They should also be able to work properly in a team and identify with the visions of the company.
Identify a Niche
It is important to identify a niche. Niche in this instance would mean the group of drugs the company would be interested in producing or the line of research to tow. This choice can be guided by the available expertise of the team, available patents, demand, arrears of research paucity, disease conditions in the local environment.
Branding
Most major pharmaceutical companies were able to cut their edge through successful branding. It is important to position your startup towards a successful brand. Choose brand names for the lines of drugs to be produced that will be attractive to doctors, pharmacists, other prescribers, and patients. The brand names should be closely linked to the name of the disease condition and the company name. It’s also important you get the company name and domain name right. You need your umbrella brand to be powerful and compelling.
Licensing
Ensure all your products are licensed by the drug authorities. FDA registration and licensing form the basis of legality for your pharmaceutical company. It also establishes trust and reputation for your products. Monitoring and evaluation:
There should be a continuous monitoring and evaluation to identify any weak links during the rollout process, also to identify early strengths and trends. This can be used for future planning, to steer the company towards productivity.