Indiana Life Sciences Collaboration Conferences Series

Research and Development Management

May 18, 2007

Location:

Warsaw, Indiana

Orthopaedic Capital Center, Grace College

Sponsors:

Kelley School of Business Evening MBA Program

Zimmer

 

Overview:

Biotechnology, medical device, and pharmaceutical companies rely on their pipeline of new products to drive economic value. Managing the process of research and development is a key element of corporate strategy. Effective management requires good metrics of R&D performance, useful feedback from clinicians on product design, valuable alliances with outside partners, and efficient communication between scientists, engineers, and traditional business functions. All life science firms struggle with uncertainties that surround valuation of tangible assets, commercialization of intellectual property, and imposition of business time frames on the process of discovery and development. From both an academic and practitioner perspective, this fourth conference in the Life Science Collaboration will reveal new thoughts on modern approaches to R&D management.

The topic of R&D management should be of interest to anyone in the life sciences who works along the interface of scientific discovery and business. The content of the conference will be most relevant to managers who must allocate capital across competing R&D projects, translate for technical staff the logic of business decisions, recruit scientific talent, and oversee product development teams. Knowledge of good R&D management can also help scientists sell the prospective value of embryonic intellectual property. When more discipline is imposed on the messy process of product innovation, R&D expenses fall and the time-to-market of a new product falls. This positively affects everyone along the health care value chain.