Nurturing a new drug or device to market takes skill sets along a continuum of disciplines. Universities have responded to industry demands for scientists who have expertise with business, regulatory affairs, and high-tech drug discovery by designing new programs to teach these skills as well as advance careers.
"Product development, regulatory approval, and commercialization are all linked," says Cris McReynolds, vice president of business development at Affymetrix in Santa Clara, Calif. Companies want employees able to contribute along the entire spectrum-not simply work in their own vacuum. "Like many industries, we're trying to drive decision-making further down in the organization," he says.
To that end, educators have stepped in to offer programs to help researchers broaden their skills as well as their careers. San Jose State University's Master of Biotechnology (MBT) degree program integrates hands-on training in lab-based biotechnologies with MBA-level management and business courses. "The students, already comfortable with ...
