CEOs emerge from a variety of backgrounds. In biotech, science training is clearly very helpful. But for later-stage companies – in development and beyond – a science degree or PhD is not necessary. Being too involved in the science can even be a disadvantage. What is important for the top-job in biotech, according to CEO-turned-investor Christian Schetter, entrepreneur-in-residence at Arix Bioscience, is having experienced “lots of different kinds of challenge across your career.” Whether these challenges were in development, manufacturing, marketing or IT, what matters is appreciating the significance of each, and learning from them.
“You don’t need to be experienced in everything. You just need to know enough to ask dangerous, critical questions; to...