Dansk Biotek Magasinet nr. 1 2010

d e n V i rt u e L L e V e r d e n
Af kAroLinA rAsk
m.sC. Ceo of
thromBoLogiC
“I’m the bottleneck 95 percent of
the time.”
A Week in the Life of
A VirtuAL CompAny
“I start every day by connecting my
computer, usually at Cobis, getting
a cup of coffee and going through
emails. I normally have a few meetings
during the week with one of the
scientific advisors at Rigshospitalet
or a teleconference with one of my
consultants. My work can be very
varied, and I thrive on the different
challenges. I might start my day dealing
with financing issues and finish it
by writing the background for a clinical
study protocol. I also enjoy the
flexibility I have. I usually end my day
at my home office, and I often take
advantage of the virtual office by extending
a weekend trip and working
one day while I’m away, at my mum’s
house for instance.”
Working in A
VIRTUAL WORLD
For many biotech start-ups, operating as a virtual company is the only
way to survive the first few years. The CEO has to adapt to a new way
of working if the company is to cash in on low overheads.
“In some ways, it’s like being on a business
trip that doesn’t end,” says Karolina
Rask when asked to explain what it’s
like to run – and be the only employee
in – a virtual biotech company. “I can
work from anywhere that has a desk,
mobile telephone reception and a wireless
connection, and I can go for days
without seeing another person if I’m not
careful.”
Karolina is the CEO for a biotech startup
called Thrombologic, and the company’s
goal is to develop a new therapy
for the prevention and treatment of
multiple organ failure in critically ill patients.
The therapy is based on a new
interpretation of how the pathogenesis
works that causes multiple organ failure,
and how to treat it with already existing
marketed drugs. Because the therapy
doesn’t involve new pharmaceutical
products, Thrombologic is hoping for a
shorter development path to reach the
market – and Karolina is currently working
on the proof of concept study for
the invention, which is expected to be a
clinical phase I/II study run at Rigshospitalet
in Copenhagen.
KEEPING OVERHEADS LOW
Due to Thrombologic’s shoestring
budget, Karolina needs to keep overheads
down, and the virtual company
route was the obvious choice. A virtual
company is an idea as much as a business
concern: the company owns the IP,
but doesn’t have any of the usual strappings
of a biotech company, such as a
CFO or business development manager.
In fact, there’s usually only one employee,
often working from an office at
home. Most other activities – including
IP, laboratory, regulatory and pre-clinical
work; toxicology and clinical studies;
and chemistry, manufacturing and controls
(CMC) activities – are outsourced
to contract research organisations
(CROs) and consultants.
According to Karolina, this not only
keeps overheads down, but also enables
her to keep a close eye on her burn
rate and means “there’s only one person
to fire, me, if the company goes down.
And if an investor wants to buy in, there
are no employees or assets to complicate
the process.”
THE STRUGGLE TO RETAIN
COMPANY KNOWLEDGE
But there are a number of pitfalls that
have to be negotiated by anyone running
a virtual company. For example,
because every function is outsourced,
from legal and financial to lab work and
IT, the CEO is under constant pressure
to keep things moving. “I’m at the
centre of everything that happens at
Thrombologic, and I’m also the bottleneck
at least 95 percent of the time,”
explains Karolina. “Most of the different
‘departments’ never actually meet and
all the consultants I use are also working
on other projects as well as mine. So I
have to keep on top of things, for example
by agreeing a clear timeline before
the work starts and putting caps on the
amount of time people can spend on a
certain task. And if I don’t push every