Chris Tachibana

Beyond government grants: Widening your funding net

“S ingle-origin”—referring to a product that comes from one specific location, crop, or supplier—is now a trend for coffee and chocolate, but science funding is moving toward diversification. The reason? The proportion of U.S. R&D supported by federal funds fell from nearly 70% in 1973 to below 60% in 2016, according to a U.S. National Science Foundation report (1). Nonprofit and private organizations such as the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation fill the funding gap for some researchers, while others explore options such as direct pitches to industry partners, investors, and crowdfunding donors. Financial security is just one reason to diversify funding. Small awards from institutional sources, foundations, or crowdfunding can replace money lost to budget cuts. Supplemental funding can also support preliminary data collection for a larger proposal. Additionally, industry or investor partners may provide both funding and business mentoring for a scientist whose project has commercial potential. Or researchers can endorse open science while raising money on crowdfunding and science-challenge platforms. This article explores alternative funding resources that supplement or replace traditional government mechanisms.

Top employers embrace change based on a stable foundation

482 Artificial Intelligence–November 30 Postdocs 1: Careers in Diversity and Inclusion–February 1 Cancer Research–March 15 L ike the biotech and pharma industry itself, the annual Science Careers Top Employers Survey continues to change and grow. This year, more than 8,000 responded, the most in the history of the survey, up from 6,950 last year. Of more than 180 companies mentioned frequently by survey participants, 20 emerged as top employers. Survey respondents were mainly from North America (63%), followed by Europe (24%) and the Asia/Pacific Rim (9%). Most were industry employees; 93% work in a biotech, biopharma, or pharmaceutical company. Although 80% were age 30 or older, and twothirds reported 10 or more years of work experience, 76% said they had not yet reached their career peak. Innovation was the leading driver for top employers. Work culture, respect for employees, and social responsibility were also highly valued. An unusual feature in this year’s survey compared to recent years was the emergence of “top leadership that successfully makes changes needed to keep the organization moving in the right direction” as a characteristic of top employers. Comments from respondents reflected a year of prominent political news, impactful elections worldwide, and heated public discussions about health care reform, drug pricing, and industry regulations. The announcement by Amazon, JPMorgan Chase, and Berkshire Hathaway of a joint venture to create a technology-based health care company may have been on survey respondents’ minds when they noted new data sources, analytic methods, and automation as industry changes. Other comments covered market trends, including mergers and acquisitions and the rise of biosimilars and generic drugs, and new R&D avenues such as gene editing. Against that backdrop, representatives from top companies explain how their organizations respond to an ever-changing industry while holding to “true north.” A common theme was making rational, data-driven decisions and taking actions that reflect their company’s location, employee base, and foundational values. Stability at the top For the third straight year and the sixth time since 2011, Regeneron Pharmaceuticals in Tarrytown, New York, was chosen as the No. 1 employer. Chief Scientific Officer and President George Yancopoulos is enthusiastic about the top ranking, saying, “It never gets old.” He attributes the continuing recognition to two major factors: “We’re the only major biopharma company started by and still run by scientists after 30 years, and we continue to build on our innovation, particularly in genetics.” Citing the company principle of “doing well by doing good,” Yancopoulos adds, “We believe that if we do the right thing based on our science, then we’ll do fine from the business standpoint.” He names Dupixent, an atopic dermatitis drug from Regeneron and developmental partner Sanofi, based in Paris, France, as an example. It wasn’t initially predicted to be profitable, but is becoming a success, and its clinical trial data shows promise for asthma and other allergic diseases as well. Moreover, Regeneron’s leadership is not averse to change. “One of our strengths,” Yancopoulos says, “is that we’re willing to adapt or die. That’s how we survived for 20 years before our first product approval.” The company previously focused on in-house discoveries, many of which were later developed or commercialized with other companies, but is now increasingly engaged in external partnerships. Brian Zambrowicz, Regeneron’s vice president of functional genomics and chief of its VelociGene Operations, says the company was one of the first to work with transgenic mice and continues to build on that technology. Recent expansions in other areas include CRISPR-based gene-editing therapies through a partnership with Intellia; RNA-interference therapeutics with Alnylam; and treatments for hearing loss with Decibel Therapeutics. Company leaders expect future discoveries from the Regeneron Genetics Center (RGC), a company subsidiary focused on genotype–phenotype data, which Yancopoulos cont. > IM A G E:

Multicultural relationships: Working across industries

Academic researchers are increasingly venturing out of the laboratory and into unfamiliar professional territory. The draw might be a multidisciplinary project, industry collaboration, or consulting. The new field might be government, law, or even the military. To ease interactions with colleagues in other fields with different work environments, seven researchers share what they9ve learned about productive, professional cross-disciplinary relationships. Read the Feature (Full-Text HTML) Read the Feature (PDF)

LIFE SCIENCE TECHNOLOGIES: qPCR Innovations and Blueprints

Quantitative PCR users can rapidly generate large amounts of high-quality data with new instruments and products made possible by microfluidics and miniaturization technology. These platforms are the tools for developing techniques that require extremely high throughput and sensitivity such as digital PCR and single-cell analysis. Researchers are adopting these methods to ask sophisticated questions about genetics and cancer biology as well as to develop novel research and diagnostic assays. As qPCR innovators explore new frontiers and everyday users venture into more complicated workflows, international groups of industry and academic partners are keeping us on the path of best practices. Two consortia are generating guidelines on the qPCR process--from experimental design and pre-analysis sample collection, to processing data and publishing results. The guidelines are blueprints that ensure reproducibility, validity, and transparency. Read the Feature (Full-Text HTML) Read the Feature (PDF) Read New Products (PDF)