Nordic Life Science 1
40 “I LOVE BEING RIGHT UP TO DATE, HAVING THAT IN
TERACTION WITH A WIDE POOL OF INDIVIDUALS, DOCTORS, SCIENTISTS, ACADEMICS, AND ENTREPRENEURS. NO ONE DAY IS THE SAME AS THE NEXT. NOTHING EVER STANDS STILL.” human health is unlike anything we’ve seen before,” Ester Sklarsky says. Criteria to invest Companies nearing the clinical phase of their new products are most interesting to Sound Bioventures. Before committing to funding a company, Sklarsky and her colleagues assess a range of technical and strategic factors, including whether the venture fits with their investment criteria, including size of funding round, valuation and whether the product is approaching or in early clinical development. S trong protection of intellectual property is also important as IP is critical for long-term value and defensibility, and another crucial factor is whether the product addresses an unmet medical need and offers different treatment to other products on the market or in development. Additionally, the science behind the asset must stand up to scrutiny, according to Sklarsky. “Softer” criteria include the presence of a reliable team in the growing company, she adds. “We need to believe in the management team’s ability to execute on the development strategy, and whether they are receptive to collaboration and outside perspectives,” notes Sklarsky. “Evidence of marketing and partnership dynamics is important too.” Business and Science Certainly, there’s a lot to process, but Sklarsky mastered the art of juggling during her college years. “I was very determined, I knew what I wanted to do, which was medicine,” she says. “I was always interested in the human body, and somewhat naïvely, believed I could cure cancer. But I was also impatient. I realized that while I might not be the very scientist discovering the cure, I could still play a vital role by supporting the science.” Rather than choose between her two passions, she earned a B.S. in Biomedicine and an M.S. in Bioentrepreneurship, both from Karolinska Institute, and set out to apply them both. R ealizing the importance of funding to scientific success, Sklarsky decided to stay close to the science aspects as she increased her touch points. “I didn’t want to commit to one side of the table, when it came to business and science,” says Ester Sklarsky. Making her way in a male-dominated industry had its challenges, but Sklarsky says she benefited from gaining work experience while she was still studying. “I had my foot in the door early, I worked as a student. The more experience you have the better decisions you can make, although sometimes I had to be pushy to get people to listen to me,” she says. While initially lacking female role models, Sklarsky sought out mentors and found supervisors who believed in her and gave her confidence even if she was the only woman. “I tell students ‘Don’t just pick your job, pick your supervisor.’ Make sure it is someone willing to mentor you, willing to teach you, so you can be a role model.” Biotech 2.0 Since her work is so demanding, Sklarsky savors the time she spends with her family – her husband and two children, who are aged 4 and 2. “They are my greatest joy, I love seeing them become little human beings,” she says. FINANCING // INTERVIEW