4 Questions About Storytelling in Biotech

 

Every year, Northwestern Engineering's Master of Biotechnology Program (MBP) brings industry experts together at Biotech Nexus to talk about the latest innovations facing the biotech space and the skills needed to thrive professionally. 

One of the skill sets that kept coming at last year's event up was storytelling.  

The term can be seen by some as a buzzword, but the need for workers to be able to articulate what they are doing and why it matters — and to be able to craft it in a compelling way for different audiences — is a crucial skill.  

As part of the Biotech Nexus conversation, three panelists discussed how they leverage storytelling and how students should think about their own storytelling when it comes to searching for a job.  

What is one example of how a CEO uses storytelling? 

Ameet Mallik ('94, MBP '95), CEO at ADC Therapeutics: With investors in financing, it's key to really understand what's important to them to be able to pitch your story. There are over 600 public biotech companies and there are a lot of private biotech companies, and being clear about what your investment thesis is, why they should invest, and really clearly about how they can create value is critical.  

What role does storytelling play in regulatory affairs? 

Anju Samy, executive director and head of regulatory affairs at COUR Pharmaceuticals Development: Storytelling is part of the strategy that I have to bring to the table. Anytime there's a new problem or a challenge that we have to look at, the story is the promise of new types of therapies and everything that you possibly can do to bring them to patients. I have to think about how we are going to design studies, and I don't do that myself. We have to think about the regulatory considerations and how we should think about everything from a labeling perspective and what's important to patients versus the regulators versus the clinicians versus the payers. And so we bring all of that into the trial that we design and the regulatory input, and it is all about storytelling. It's storytelling because regulatory is externally facing. So how do we convince the health authority? When you get that agreement or you get that no objection, then it's a job well done. 

How can students use storytelling to build their network?   

Jeff Ehrhardt, chief operating officer at Shreenika: I favor open-ended relationship building where you don't know where it'll go. Just talk to people and you see where it leads. Biotech is kind of small, so people are generally interconnected. People know what's going on in different spaces, and a small number of conversations can really open some opportunities for you. 

How can students think about storytelling when it comes to finding a job?  

Anju Samy: Stay agile. Don't lose hope. Even if you get an offer that doesn't fit the bill today, go do the job. You might learn something that you could potentially use down the road. I'm not saying take anything that comes your way. Try to make use of your skill set, try to make use of the knowledge that you've gained thus far, and don't sell yourself short. Look for silver linings as you are navigating through these times and thinking about your journey. I'm sure you'll have a story to tell someday. Every little (experience) helps you look at things from a more strategic and broad perspective.