“There is no success without defeat” – how to win in a high risk biotech enterprise
Date: 20.12.2011
Central Europe (CE) is an emerging biotech market, a small star among European regions. There are more or less 200 innovative biotech companies, which mostly were established in last 10 years. During the
11th edition of BioForum, Central European Forum of Biotechnology and Innovative BioEconomy, held in Brno, Czech Republic, May 23-24th 2012 (www.cebioforum.com) some spectacular biotech business success stories coming out from the CE region will be presented.
The most fascinating in those stories is that it is about people, who are responsible for business successes of their companies in the biotechnology sector.
One of them is dr Maciej Wieczorek (Ph.D) who was the inventor of Mabion (Poland) and currently is its CEO. The company was established in 2007 to introduce to the market humanized monoclonal antibodies. After 3 years Mabion raised its market value from 0.05 mln PLN (ca 0.011 mln EUR) to about 100 mln PLN (ca 22 mln EUR). In 2010 Mabion entered the NewConnect stock market on the Warsaw Stock Exchange, rising its R&D budget with 22,8 mln PLN (about 6 mln Euro).
Maciej Wieczorek is also a founder a biotech company Celon Pharma. Celon Pharma is developing
a innovative siRNA technology and successfully producing and distributing traditional small molecule drugs on the Polish and Central European market.
According to dr Wieczorek, "The key factors to achieve a success in Central European biotech business is a combination of different attributes and strategies. It is necessary to fit in market situation. I am absolutely convinced that to achieve success in so complicated fields like biotechnology or pharmacy, interdisciplinarity is necessary. It means - ability to link business with science, marketing instinct and knowledge of law and finance issues".
It is a fact that companies in CE are still unable to copy American or Western European business models. So what is the solution? "We have to use available financial possibilities to support projects, for example European funds. In last years they helped to establish in Poland a several new projects. Some of them for sure stay on the market and will be turned into start-up's. Furthermore financial support should be reached in funds: private, Venture or Seed capitals." says dr Wieczorek.
To be successful in the biotech sector it is not only a matter of money. "It counts also character and worth. There are learning skills, resistance to defeats, that always are present in life. There is no success without defeat and to go ahead two steps, sometimes it is necessary to go back one step. Undoubtedly psychological power and will to fight is essential and it decides to a large degree about success . I see each my day as a constant fight with weaknesses, following perfection. I establish my goals and I aim them. I don't watch on the limitation, because I think the only two limitation are our skull and size of our nerve cells. Financial, human or organizational issues we can overcome" continues dr Wieczorek.
He believes in human kind and gives his coworkers a big trust. Dr Wieczorek is convinced that respecting proper system of worth, makes coworker feel as one of the part of something big and important, provides to their bigger effectiveness and involvement in this what they do.
Dr Maciej Wieczorek will be a speaker on BioForum 2012 session called "Biotechnology business sucess stories in Central Europe".
BioForum is the biggest and the most important event in Central Europe dedicated to the biotech and pharma industry. Starting in the year 2000 it has as a main aim the creation and development of cooperation platform between the companies from the life science sector in the CE region. The creator and the main organizer of BioForum is Bio-Tech Consulting Ltd. (www.biotechconsulting.pl)
BioForum - Central European Forum of Biotechnology & Innovative BioEconomy
together with accompanying events will be held on
23-24th of May 2012 in the Conference Centre BVV Trade Fairs in Brno (Czech Republic).
more: www.cebioforum.com
