COURSE NUMBER: MB296.12
This course is dual-listed with the Evening-Weekend Program.

COURSE TITLE: Commercializing Biotech and Pharma

UNITS OF CREDIT: 1 unit

INSTRUCTOR: Kimberly MacPherson 

E-MAIL ADDRESS: kmacpherson@berkeley.edu

MEETING DAY(S)/TIME:  April 15 and April 29 from 9AM to 5PM

Please note the unusual format of this course, which meets all day on two Sundays.  You must attend both sessions in their entirety in order to earn a passing grade.

PREREQUISITE(S): NONE. PRIOR FINANCE COURSE STRONGLY SUGGESTED

CLASS FORMAT: The class will be a mixture of lecture, cases and interactive exercises.   Additional subject matter expertise will be offered by outside guest experts from the biotech and finance sectors

REQUIRED READINGS:  Some chapters from “Valuation in Life Sciences” by Dr. Boris Bogdan and Ralph Villiger (it’s an ebook).  Also a mix of cases and publicly available reports and journal articles (posted to bCourses as resources).  Students with limited familiarity with biotech sector will be provided with suggested pre-reads prior to the class start 

BASIS FOR FINAL GRADE: Mix of participation, case write ups, interactive team exercise (in-class)

CAREER FIELD: This course is useful for anyone who wants to better understand how key financial decisions are made in the biotech environment

ABSTRACT OF COURSE'S CONTENT AND OBJECTIVES: This two-day course will provide insight into the some of the major financing decisions facing biotech firms as they seek capital or access to emerging products/development platforms.  The coverage will include key issues relevant for larger, established firms as well as start-ups in the life sciences.   The course will expose students to applications of specific finance tools and techniques and provide opportunities to practice using them in case based assignments.  Key areas to include:  licensing and partnering, valuation of both early stage and revenue producing entities, pricing and management of product/therapeutic areas/drugs.
The first day will be a mix of didactic presentation and groupwork around case examples of partnership and licensing deals.  At the end of the first day, students will be given a case scenario involving a biotech partnership and will prepare a quantitative and qualitative response prior to the next course session.  They will bring this back to the second day where the case will be presented, critiqued with guests from a local major biotech firm (e.g. Genentech/Gilead, etc).  This session will then go deeper into valuation methods that are used in commercializing new products via licensing/partnerships and more examination of successful and failed deals.  Students will be given a final assignment at the end of the second session and have two weeks to complete it.
Key objectives will include increasing student knowledge of the biotech industry and the finance opportunities and challenges they face in these uncertain times.  Students will also be exposed to analytical techniques and gain a better understanding of how to apply them in these settings.

BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH: Kimberly MacPherson, MBA/MPH is a Haas alum (1994) and currently the Executive Director, Health Management - Haas School of Business.  She is also the Program Director, Health Policy and Management at the School of Public Health and Co-Director for the Berkeley Center for Health Technology (BCHT).   At BCHT, Ms. MacPherson conducts research in health system strategy, digital health and on coverage and adoption around biotech and medical device.  She also develops and leads workshops for industry on key trends impacting those sectors.  At UC Berkeley, Ms MacPherson teaches HC in the 21st Century, Healthcare Finance, Foundations of HPM and Healthcare Negotiations.  Ms. MacPherson is a Board of Trustee at St Francis Memorial Hospital (San Francisco) and a member of the Dignity Health system Strategic Planning Committee. She has over 22 years of healthcare experience in operations, management consulting and strategic planning and product development.