BioVentis Consulting, helping biotech companies raise capital

This week we interviewed Afif Ghannoum, a principal at BioVentis Consulting (http://www.bioventisconsulting.com/ ). Afif works with clients to formulate corporate strategies, assess technical consulting needs, and identify possible sources of funding, such as grants and private investment opportunities. He also speaks on topics relating to biotechnology, including "SBIR Grant Basics" and "The Top Ten Legal Issues Facing Biotechnology Companies." Before founding BioVentis, he was an attorney at Squire, Sanders & Dempsey, and Baker Hostetler, two of the largest firms in the country. As a transactional attorney, part of his practice included representing biotechnology companies at various stages of development. His team has been successful in securing multiple "fast-track" SBIR grants, and includes Dr. Mahmoud Ghannoum who has been continuously funded by the NIH since 1995, and is a recipient of the prestigious Bristol-Myers Squibb "Freedom to Discover" award. Dr. Ghannoum also happens to be Afif's father.
Afif can be contacted at afif@bioventisconsulting.com or you can follow him on Twitter http://twitter.com/Afif_Ghannoum

What is BioVentis Consulting's primary focus? While we are a general service biotech consulting firm, our primary focus is identifying possible sources of funding, and assisting clients in securing such funding. That includes preparing grant applications, drafting investor proposals, and creating investor presentations. However, our capabilities definitely extend beyond funding assistance. Our consultants assist clients in many other ways, including pre-clinical invitro and invivo evaluation, biomedical writing and reports, and developing strategies for filing FDA applications.

How does BioVentis Consulting help life science companies get funding? We help life science companies secure funding by taking a multi-faceted approach. Nowadays, companies cannot rely on one single avenue of funding, and must be prepared to have several irons in the fire. That is why we work to identify grants (local, state, and federal) that clients may be eligible for, and private investors that are seeking investment opportunities. Once sources of funding are identified, we also assist clients in creating applications, proposals and presentations in order to pursue and secure such funding.

Who should be applying for the SBIR grants? While all life science companies should at least consider SBIR/STTR grants as an option, SBIR/STTR grants are meant to foster innovation. Therefore companies will have to demonstrate what they are doing is innovative, and also show how the grant money will further that innovation. That is definitely a simplistic overview of the SBIR/STTR grant requirements, but gets to the heart of the SBIR/STTR grants.

Why do you think the time is ripe to apply for grant funding? Just two years ago, all a life science entrepreneur needed was a good idea to get significant funding through private equity and venture capital sources. Those days are long gone. Many of those funding sources are concentrating on investments they already have on their books, and waiting out the economy before aggressively looking at other opportunities. Not to say there is not any venture capital and private equity money out there, there definitely is, but it is certainly harder to get a piece of that pie today than in the past. The time is therefore ripe for companies to assess whether they are eligible to receive funding through grants.

Do you have any advice for people who are thinking about starting a company in the life science industry? Everyone knows that the first thing an entrepreneur should do is put together a solid business plan before starting a company. Any business website will tell you that, and it is definitely sounds advice. However, once that is accomplished, it is imperative that entrepreneurs retain legal counsel from the get-go to ensure they do not make any costly mistakes that are hard to undo later on. This applies doubly for life science companies, which are often founded around a single piece of intellectual property. If appropriate steps are not taken to protect that intellectual property, be it through filing a patent, or drafting a solid licensing agreement, companies can find themselves in a big (and costly) mess down the road.