How does a busy, working professional learn biotech?
There are many different types of professionals that work in life sciences and biotech. For example, corporate attorneys may focus their practice on advising biotech and life science companies on fundraising issues and SEC disclosures. Financial auditors may specialize in life science and biotech companies because of the unique operations and challenges facing such companies. Venture capitalists may target early stage or emerging life science companies and decide whether to invest in the technology. To assess the risks and issues related to life science and biotech companies, an understanding of the particular technology of the company is essential.
Learn biotech with no science background?
But, as a working professional, how do you learn biotech if you don’t have a science background or a science degree? It’s a valid question that plagues many biotech and life science professionals. Biology and chemistry majors may end up getting their MBAs or JDs, but what about business majors? What if you have a strong business or investment background and you want to specialize in biotech or the life science industry? How do you learn the relevant science in biotech?
This problem is actually very common in biotechnology and life science. According to IBIS World, there are 344,571 people employed in the biotechnology industry in the US as of 2022. There are those that have a science background and those that don’t. Those that have a Ph.D. and those that don’t. But just because you have a science background or a Ph.D. does not mean that you know all the relevant science in biotechnology. You could have a Ph.D. in neuroscience, but that does not mean that you know about the mechanism of action of AAVs and how they deliver a transgene. Or how companies are investigating how to engineer AAV capsids. A Ph.D. does not give you breadth of knowledge. It gives you great depth, but not breadth.
So, even if a professional has a science background, it does not translate into a working knowledge of all the relevant science in biotech or life sciences. And, professionals steeped in experience in law, business, or investing also lack a breadth of knowledge of the relevant science in biotech and life sciences. One thing is clear: if you are working in biotech or life sciences you are skilled in your profession. You just might be lacking a science background or a breadth of knowledge about the relevant science currently in life sciences.
Learn biotech for business majors?
Even those with a Ph.D. might find it challenging to get up to speed in learning the relevant, cutting-edge science in biotechnology. So, what chance do professionals who don’t have a biology degree or a chemistry degree have? They might find it difficult to find a biotech for beginners course, or resources dedicated to the basics of biotechnology. And some of the resources for intro to biotech or intro to life sciences are geared towards primary education. Not for seasoned professionals in biotech.
If you are a business major, or MBA, or even a lawyer (JD), you might have focused on business, investing and business management courses and not necessarily courses focused on biotech. So, how do you catch up? How do you gain enough science knowledge so you know which biotech companies to invest in? Where is your biotech for dummies? Where is your “learn biotech without a biology degree course”? Where is your biotech for business majors? Where is your science for bankers?
Available biotechnology courses
If you are looking to get up to speed on the cutting-edge science in biotechnology and life sciences, you might find several problems with courses that are already on the market. So, what biotechnology course is best for working, busy professionals? There are a few options. There are online courses offered by established universities that offer 12 week online courses in gene therapy. These courses are expensive, and they follow a set schedule. Even if a professional enrolled in this type of course, work demands may interfere with the time commitment needed to complete the course.
You could also try to learn biotechnology on your own. A sort of self-study. The problem, is that the cutting edge science in today’s market is spread piecemeal over text books, journal articles, press releases, etc. Many of these resources are written at a level that assumes an advanced knowledge of biology and/or chemistry. The time commitment needed for this approach is extensive and long term.
Thus, it is difficult to find a masterclass in biotechnology where you can learn the relevant science in biotech and life science that does not require a basic understanding of biology and chemistry. Where do you find a masterclass in biotechnology for business majors?
How lawyers and investors learn biotechnology
So, how do venture capitalists, lawyers, auditors, investors, etc. gain this knowledge? Either they don’t or they pick it up as they go along. Which can take years. When they do a deal on an antibody drug conjugate (ADC), they learn just enough about ADCs to get by. This gets them though the deal, but it really doesn’t give them the information about the next deal. Or to understand what other types of antibody derivative technologies are related. In essence, it’s just good enough.
The problem with this approach is that you don’t have frameworks. You miss the bigger picture. If you learn about a target and how a company is developing an antibody to block this target, you miss how other classes of therapeutics could also be leveraged to work on this target. So, how does a busy, working professional in life sciences and biotech find the best online course to learn the basics of biotechnology?
Science for Bankers: the masterclass of biotechnology
We could not find the masterclass of biotechnology for working professionals in biotech and life sciences. So, we created it. We created Science for Bankers. Which is really, a biotech for beginners course. Which is biotech for dummies. Which is biotech for those with no science background. We created these courses and you can access them at scienceforbankers.com.
Science for Bankers was created and designed to address the problems that working professionals face when they want to learn biotechnology.
Problem: time
One problem is time. Professionals in biotech and life sciences don’t have a lot of time. Everyone is busy. No has the time to enroll in an 8 week intensive course and hope that work or a deal going sideways doesn’t distract from committing to the course. So, you need a course or a curriculum that will fit into your busy calendar and schedule.
The courses at Science for Bankers are designed to be taken at your own pace. There is no set schedule. Work as fast or as slow as you need.
Problem: location
Another problem is schedule and location. You can’t commit to a physical classroom. You can’t commit to any physical location long term. The resources must be online. Further, you can’t block off every Tuesday evening for a live class. You need to be able to access the information asynchronously. You need to be able to learn the information at your own pace, anywhere in the world, on your own schedule.
The courses at Science for Bankers are online and are meant to be taken asynchronously.
Problem: access
Another problem is access. As a professional, you need to learn the information from anywhere and be able to access the information when a new deal pops up. You need a resource that once you learn it, it remains open to you. So the lecture you watched four months ago on CAR T cell therapy is easily accessible when you are starting a deal on a cell therapy based company.
Science for Bankers courses are available on a monthly subscription basis. With your subscription, you keep access to all the relevant information.
Problem: breadth
Another problem is breadth. In biotech, companies are not purely based on chemistry or purely based in biology. They don’t stay within one field. A company might have a small molecule program and a bispecific antibody that is in the clinic. Pipelines are become more and more diverse. You need breadth, not depth.
Science for Bankers has courses on all the relevant areas in biotech and life sciences.
Science for Bankers: the biotech for dummies course
With all these problems in mind, we created Science for Bankers. We lived this problem, and the struggles associated. Jumping from deal to deal with no coherent, continuous education in biotechnology was not productive. Instead of learning information piecemeal, and lacking frameworks in biotechnology, we put it all together. We created the frameworks. And, we designed it for those with little to no science background.
Science for Bankers is the biotech for dummies that you have been looking for. We developed a curriculum that really is an introduction to biotechnology, but it is for working professionals (investment bankers, venture capitalists, lawyers, bankers, even Ph.Ds.). We created these courses because we were looking for them. Other available courses did not solve the problems of time, schedule, location, access, and breadth. We solved these problems with Science for Bankers.
So, what is the best biotechnology course for working professionals? We believe it is Science for Bankers.
Science for Bankers delivers courses in small molecule drugs, large molecule drugs, cell therapy, gene therapy, RNA therapy, and immunotherapy. We cover the five main classes of therapeutics so you understand how they are different, and how they work together. Our online courses can be completed at your own pace, anywhere in the world. This is your biotech for dummies. This is your biotech for non-scientists.
With a monthly subscription, you retain access to all the information. And, as a bonus, we are constantly updating and adding new content to our courses. Nothing is stale. Nothing is out of date. Just the current, cutting-edge science in biotech delivered online, when you want it.