From Alchemy to IPO: The Business of Biotechnology

Rating:
Summary: Good introductory text and overview of the industry
Review: I read From Alchemy to IPO for an MBA course on entrepreneurialism in the pharmaceutical industry. Given my background (undergraduate business, financial analyst role, limited in-depth scientific knowledge), I found this book to be a very useful and balanced guide to both the business and technical aspects of biotechnology.

Robbins-Roth includes enough information on initial public offerings (IPOs) and merger activity among biotech firms to warm the hearts of the most resolute business student, but the drug discovery and development process is also covered in sufficient detail to give the lay reader an understanding for the operational challenges faced by firms in this sector.

Add to this the competent yet necessarily superficial descriptions of more esoteric terms such as monoclonal antibodies and combinatorial chemistry, and you have a solid text that covers the industry and its ongoing challenges very well.

Rating:
Summary: bad writing
Review: I read the first 20 pages of this book and quit. It was too painful to keep going. The author's wording in convoluted, tangential, and just plain annoying. She throws out dozens of names from the industry, so many you can't keep them straight. There is poor flow to the writing, so you cannot understand why she is telling you things from one line to the next. The topics of each paragraph jump from one subject to another with abrupt, confusing transitions. I returned the book!

Rating:
Summary: bad writing
Review: I read the first 20 pages of this book and quit. It was too painful to keep going. The author's wording in convoluted, tangential, and just plain annoying. She throws out dozens of names from the industry, so many you can't keep them straight. There is poor flow to the writing, so you cannot understand why she is telling you things from one line to the next. The topics of each paragraph jump from one subject to another with abrupt, confusing transitions. I returned the book!

Rating:
Summary: Clear and non hyped intro into biotech
Review: I'll be starting a biomedical engineering Ph.D. program in the fall and have read recently a few books on the biotech subject. This one gave the clearest picture of the biotech industries, the companies in them, how to manage and finance them, as well as how to recognize solid biotech companies for investing purposes. A quick and entertaining read for anyone interested in the business behind biotechnology.

Rating:
Summary: Clear and non hyped intro into biotech
Review: I'll be starting a biomedical engineering Ph.D. program in the fall and have read recently a few books on the biotech subject. This one gave the clearest picture of the biotech industries, the companies in them, how to manage and finance them, as well as how to recognize solid biotech companies for investing purposes. A quick and entertaining read for anyone interested in the business behind biotechnology.

Rating:
Summary: Invaluable for investors in biotechnology
Review: If you are an individual investor wanting to get a feel for the broad sweep of the biotechnology industry and the risks and rewards of biotechnology investing, this is an excellent book. Robbins Roth weaves together the history, science and business of biotechnology into a compelling narrative that both informs and entertains the reader. I found the survey of the different aspects of biotechnology - ranging from monoclonal antibodies and genomics to antisense, gene therapy and signal transduction - to be very enlightening. Also extremely useful was her overview of the drug development process and its speed bumps and brick walls. Biotechnology can deliver enormous gains to investors, but it is also a very risky proposition, a fact that Robbins Roth is at pains to emphasize. If I have a criticism, it is that her exposition of the science of biotechnology will leave the more curious reader wishing for more depth. But then again, this is not a book about the science of biotechnology; it is a book about investing in science-based companies. With regard to that goal, reading this book will make you a more informed investor.

Rating:
Summary: From 0 to 60
Review: If you're a newcomer to the industry, this book will quickly and clearly bring you up to speed on the technologies, companies, and issues behind the biotech industry. And even if you're a grizzled veteran, there are stories-behind-the-stories, background, and perspective you're unlikely to get from any other source.

Rating:
Summary: WAY OVERRATED BOOK ON BIOTECH
Review: Please tell me where I can revise my shipping address. I need to deliver this book to the below address in U.S.: Receipent: Dr. Leroy Hwang Address: 10500 Rockville Pike, m-21 Rockville MD 20852, U.S.A Tel No: 301-493-8885

Rating:
Summary: shipping address
Review: Please tell me where I can revise my shipping address. I need to deliver this book to the below address in U.S.: Receipent: Dr. Leroy Hwang Address: 10500 Rockville Pike, m-21 Rockville MD 20852, U.S.A Tel No: 301-493-8885

Rating:
Summary: Biotech 101
Review: Science today is moving so fast, that it is hard enough to keep track of new scientific developments, let alone all the hundreds of companies set up to exploit the new technologies. Robbins-Roth's Book, from Alchemy to IPO, does a great job of setting the stage and helping a novice understand not only the technology but all the companies as well.