As growth in the ICT sector slows, many investors and entrepreneurs are turning to biotechnology — the application of science to living organisms to create new products, treatments, and services — as the next major source of innovation. The challenge is that most people entering the field come from a scientific background, not a business one.

This course, offered by the Arab British Fellowship Training Academy, is built for exactly that gap. It is aimed at entrepreneurs already working in red biotechnology (health) or green biotechnology (agriculture), graduate and university students considering the field, and anyone who has already started a business and wants to look at it through a biotech lens.

Participants work through the practical building blocks of a biotech venture: business models, funding and financing from an investor's perspective, intellectual property and licensing, and the role of business incubators in taking an idea to market.

A dedicated segment on marketing and stakeholder management rounds out the course, helping participants understand the complexity of shareholder interaction that is particular to the biotechnology industry.

Who Should Attend?

• Entrepreneurs currently working in red (health) or green (agriculture) biotechnology
• Graduate students and university students considering the biotech sector
• Owners of existing businesses looking at their venture from a biotech perspective
• Anyone interested in an aspect of entrepreneurship in biotechnology

Course Objectives

By the end of the course, participants will be able to:

• Distinguish between red and green biotechnology and their respective applications
• Understand funding policy and how it applies to biotechnology ventures
• Compare business models used in the biotechnology sector
• Prepare a biotechnology business plan from a future financier's perspective
• Manage intellectual property and licensing issues relevant to biotechnology
• Explain the role of business incubators in a biotech venture's growth
• Apply basic marketing concepts and manage shareholder interaction in biotechnology

1. What Biotechnology Actually Covers

   • Biotechnology overview
   • Biotechnology from the perspective of science and technology
   • Health biotechnology

2. Science in Practice

   • Drug discovery and clinical trials
   • Genetically modified organisms
   • Biosafety techniques and methods

3. Practical Business Models

   • Practical models in biotechnology
   • The product idea
   • Plan of action and management in the field

4. Funding and Financing a Venture

   • The financing environment
   • Securing the financing process
   • Recognising financier expectations

5. Protecting the Idea

   • Intellectual property and licensing
   • Managing IP issues specific to biotechnology

6. Incubation and Market Entry

   • The nature and importance of business incubators
   • Taking a biotech idea to market

7. Marketing and Stakeholder Management

   • Basic marketing concepts in biotechnology
   • The complexity of shareholder interaction

8. Policy Environment

   • The policy environment in biotechnology
   • Regulatory considerations affecting biotech ventures