Industry Projects

Under the mentorship of Dr. Xinxia Peng of the NC State Bioinformatics Research Institute, I and a group of peers collaborated with CMI/BAM to complete this project. We performed market analysis and business research to aid in the commercialization of a specialized immune repertoire sequencing platform in non-model species, as well as providing recommendations for market entry, funding, and methods of outreach to commercialize Dr. Peng's product.

Our group of peers collaborated with Dan Devido, Director of Strategic Development at FUJFILM Diosynth, to comprehensive database of current and past programs of the CDMO at each of their worldwide sites. We gathered information about individual programs using online resources, including including FUJIFILM Diosynth's involvement with development and process, clinical trial paths, and general molecule information. Metrics on clinical trial development and paths, trial success rates, and molecule ownership were generated to further aid the company in marketing and strategic business decisions.

MBA585, or Current Topics in Bioscience Management, is a required course for all MMB students. In a group of peers, we covered a Harvard case study on Kymera Therapeutics and their biotech execution plan that allowed them to break into the industry and make their company flourish. We explored the strategies and methods the founders used to secure funding, partnerships, and resources for their new pipeline, as well as recommendations and next steps for them going forward.

Under the mentorship of Dr. Andrea Johnstone, Senior Director of Product Development at EpiCypher, our group of peers collaborated to devise a marketing strategy for the company's primary technologies, Cut&Run and Cut&Tag. We performed market analysis and trends using online sources as well as synthesizing literature reviews, gathered insights from key opinion leaders in the cell/gene therapy space, and also gathered potential customer data via a targeted survey to create a market profile. We then synthesized the data into key strategies and future recommendations.

This group, under the mentorship of Dr. Elisa Crisci, collaborated to present a full look at the swine respiratory drug market to aid in her efforts to create novel treatments for porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome virus (PRRSV) and other swine respiratory diseases. We provided a full market analysis including trends and potential competitors, as well as analysis and recommendations on pricing and funding Dr. Crisci's potential treatments.

During the second half of the fall semester, the same group of peers for the CMI/BAM project also worked on our industry practicum project with Dr. Steve Lerner of Novonesis. We were tasked with analyzing the landscape of probiotics in animal feed, and creating a comprehensive profile of the market to aid Dr. Lerner and Novonesis with bringing potential probiotic products to market. We thoroughly analyzed the market and its trends and opportunities, the many potential competitors in the space, potential customers (including a voice-of-customer survey), and the regulatory landscape in the United States, followed by our final recommendations to the company.

This project was a culmination of my experiences throughout my time in the MMB program, where a group of peers and I were tasked with ideating a solution for an unmet need related to biotechnology. After brainstorming 50+ ideas, we narrowed it down to one solution: Detickt, a portable test kit that can detect the present of tick-borne diseases through the use of an ELISA lateral flow assay. We came up with the technology and throughout the course of the semester, we completed a business model canvas as if we were forming a startup based on our idea. Aside from doing market research for things like determining our target market and potential competition, we also spoke with many experts in the field and sent out a customer-oriented survey to get a clear picture of the feasibility of the kit.