Announcing RA University: IV League Biotech
May 12, 2022
Whether you graduated with a BA, MA, PhD, MD, MBA or some other combination of letters after your name, it’s likely that academia didn’t really prepare you for a career in biotech.
When is it appropriate to call a financing a crossover round versus just a Series C? Is a job offer that comes with 50,000 options more or less attractive than one that comes with 10,000 options? How are drugs priced? What is the cost of inventing a drug? Who invents them – NIH or industry?
Our lawmakers don’t get the difference between list prices and what patients actually pay, and so many want to impose price controls on the list prices of blockbuster drugs. In turn, many executives don’t understand the mechanism by which those price controls would impact investors’ early-stage R&D funding decisions.
To address these widespread misunderstandings and knowledge gaps, the RA Capital team has developed short, insight-rich courses on a variety of advanced topics relevant to the business of biotechnology. Our goal has been to examine and teach practical and theoretical concepts fundamental to the biotech industry that aren’t being presented anywhere else. We refined the materials over the years while teaching them to small groups. Today, we’re excited to announce that anyone can access these materials (free of charge) through RA University, our new online learning center.
We hope these materials augment what’s taught at actual universities. Any instructor is welcome to use any of these materials or portions of these materials in their own courses.
RA University covers a lot of ground. If you’re new to the sector, start with our flagship course, “The Business of Biotechnology,” for introductory lessons on the biotech social contract and competitive game theory relevant to drug development. Or for more practical advice — especially if you’re considering taking a new biotech job — take a look at our “Understanding the Value of Your Equity” course, where we talk through how to think about equity as an integral (and often misunderstood) part of any employment offer. If you’re interested in how to explain the network of competing incentives that shapes the US healthcare industry, explore our modules on healthcare affordability & innovation. And there are materials for seasoned folks as well – jump into our “Finance Master Class” (originally designed for CFO candidates) and leaf through “SABER” (Strategic Alignment: Board & Executive Resource), our guide for putting together the best board meetings in the industry with the clearest board pre-read materials.