So how do biotech ventures govern themselves to run efficiently while complying with state corporate law statutes and state and federal securities laws and regulations imposed by stock exchanges? Frugality that is often self-imposed by scientific founders and then endorsed by the angel investors and venture capital company investors that follow sequentially tend to result…

The public securities markets and the underwriters that lead biotech companies into them dictate a common capital structure suitable for IPOs, which structure almost always deviates starkly from the capital structure of the venture at inception and during its growth phase. Startups frequently commence corporate life structured as limited liability companies with a few founders…

Mindful that this series of articles describes biotech ventures that are ripe for initial public offerings even before launching an income-producing drug product into the commercial market, the paramount objective for all such ventures is to manufacture drugs and commence marketing, sales and distribution thereof as soon as possible. As you read in the previous…

For a drug discovery start-up, patent protection of the intellectual property underlying the commercialization pursuit is critically important. If the company is a university or research institution spin-out that obtained licensed rights to intellectual property through a technology transfer, either the licensor or the licensee – as set forth in the License Agreement — must pursue…

The U.S. Food & Drug Administration regulates new drug approvals in a process that is extremely thorough, lengthy and expensive. Regulations apply to a drug candidate’s product development phase, the approval process and after approval. Failure to comply could have serious business and financial con-sequences to a biotech venture, including the FDA’s refusal to approve…

Many biotech ventures begin life as an invention conceived by a scientist/professor working in a laboratory at a federally-funded university or scientific institute. The intellectual property underlying such inventions is owned by the academic institution, a potentially valuable asset to be nurtured. Since enactment of the Bayh-Dole Act in 1980, academic institutions through their technology…

Recently, the San Francisco Board of Supervisors voted to give Twitter a 6 year break from the city’s 1.5% payroll tax – which also extends to stock options – to prevent them from leaving, losing their tax revenues, and to promote job creation in the city. Recently, the San Francisco Board of Supervisors voted to…

New York City – At the TechCrunch Disrupt Conference 2011, the startup Getaround beat out 32 other startups to win the Disrupt Cup, in addition to $ 50,000 and exponential media (read: investor) exposure.  Before getting into the paradigm shifting virtues of Getaround however, it would be worthwhile to explain exactly what it means to…