Many biotech companies are now arriving at the stage where they are building their employee infrastructure and require the talents that CAs can bring to the table. Biotech firms need help in everything from going public to corporate finance, tax, assurance, intellectual property management and negotiating licensing arrangements and alliances. It's in the area of raising capital, however, that biotech companies need help the most. Partly because of regulatory processes and clinical trials, it can take upwards of 10 years before a product under development hits the market. Biotech companies have a voracious appetite for capital to fund that lengthy process.
Cash is king.
Scott admits she had no idea what biotech was when the job fell into her lap. She was working with a forestry company when she was offered an accounting job with Stressgen. In her current position, Scott juggles a number of responsibilities, such as watching over filings to both US and Canadian securities regulators. My job is to make sure the decision-makers, both internal and external, have the financial information they need in order to make informed decisions. Scott has to take scientists' concerns, which often revolve around research results, and reconcile them with what shareholders want, which generally has to do with a healthy bottom line.