Biotechnology Finance Directors / FD’s
Are your looking for an FD or CFO from the Biotechnology sector? Or a Finance Director that has previously worked with Biotechnology businesses? Then you have come to the right place, here at FD Capital Recruitment we have a large database of candidates all with Biotechnology sector expertise.
Having previous experience within a Biotechnology business is essential for an FD to be able to make the biggest impact.
Biotechnology
Biotechnology is the branch of applied science that uses living organisms and their derivatives to produce products and processes. These products and processes feature in healthcare, medicine, biofuels, and environmental safety. Biotech stocks are risky investments since biotech firms often spend massive amounts of time and money developing drugs that might never get to the market.
History of biotechnology
People have been harnessing biological processes to improve their quality of life for some 10,000 years, beginning with the first agricultural communities. Approximately 6,000 years ago, humans began to tap the biological processes of microorganisms in order to make bread, alcoholic beverages, and cheese and to preserve dairy products. But such processes are not what is meant today by biotechnology, a term first widely applied to the molecular and cellular technologies that began to emerge in the 1960s and ’70s.
A fledgling “biotech” industry began to coalesce in the mid- to late 1970s, led by Genentech, a pharmaceutical company established in 1976 by Robert A. Swanson and Herbert W. Boyer to commercialize the recombinant DNA technology pioneered by Boyer, Paul Berg, and Stanley N. Cohen. Early companies such as Genentech, Amgen, Biogen, Cetus, and Genex began by manufacturing genetically engineered substances primarily for medical and environmental uses.
For more than a decade, the biotechnology industry was dominated by recombinant DNA technology, or genetic engineering. This technique consists of splicing the gene for a useful protein (often a human protein) into production cells—such as yeast, bacteria, or mammalian cells in culture—which then begin to produce the protein in volume.
In the process of splicing a gene into a production cell, a new organism is created. At first, biotechnology investors and researchers were uncertain about whether the courts would permit them to acquire patents on organisms; after all, patents were not allowed on new organisms that happened to be discovered and identified in nature.
But, in 1980, the U.S. Supreme Court, in the case of Diamond v. Chakrabarty, resolved the matter by ruling that “a live human-made microorganism is patentable subject matter.” This decision spawned a wave of new biotechnology firms and the infant industry’s first investment boom. In 1982 recombinant insulin became the first product made through genetic engineering to secure approval from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA).
Since then, dozens of genetically engineered protein medications have been commercialized around the world, including recombinant versions of growth hormone, clotting factors, proteins for stimulating the production of red and white blood cells, interferons, and clot-dissolving agents.
Understanding Biotechnology
Biotechnology involves understanding how living organisms function at the molecular level, so it combines a number of disciplines including biology, physics, chemistry, mathematics, science, and technology.
Modern biotechnology continues to make significant contributions to extending the human lifespan and improving quality of life, including providing products and therapies to combat diseases, generating higher crop yields, and using biofuels to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Hungarian engineer Karl Ereky reportedly coined the term “biotechnology,” which is often referred to as “biotech,” in 1919.
Companies in the biotech space tend to face significant barriers to success. One critical reason for this is that research and development costs for biotechs tend to be incredibly high. While a company is focusing its time and money in these areas, there’s usually little revenue. It’s not uncommon, therefore, for biotech companies to work together with larger, more established firms to achieve their research and development goals.
Many biotech businesses are based around the Oxford area and of Course in London, given our focus on these areas we are ideally placed to find your the perfect FD or CFO with Biotech experience.
We have been active in London and Oxford since 2018 and have grown steadily since then. We service London and the South East from Great Portland Street, and have members of our network that cover the South Coast and the Milton Keynes area.
Although London is one of the most vibrant cities in the world, it can be difficult to find the right London Finance Director for your company. For every fully trained and accredited Finance Director, there are a dozen others who don’t have the skills or experience to meet the needs of your business. At FD Capital Recruitment, our team is at the top of their field, with experience helping companies like yours grow and meet their strategic goals.
If you are planning to recruit an FD for your London based business, make sure to speak with FD Capital Recruitment today.
About FD Capital Recruitment – your Finance Director and CFO specialists.
Formed in 2018 FD Capital Recruitment was founded with the objective of becoming a leading provider of Finance Directors and CFO’s
We offer three solutions :-
Part-Time FD’s and CFO’s our idea being to bring the skills and experience that finance directors have gained in larger corporates and plc’s and make them available to SME’s on fractional time basis.
Interim FD’s and CFO’s available for short term assignments
Full Time FD’s and CFO’s – we’ll find the perfect senior financial professional for your business and its requirements.
We have grown and grown and had our busiest year so far in 2020 with some of our team working six days per week. Many of our team and most of our candidates are ICAEW qualified. See more of the areas covered by FD capital here.
Our main offices are based in Great Portland Street, London. One of our founders has a Biology degree with a focus on Biotechnology, so we are well place to appreciate the requirements of our biotech clients.
Our Culture
We pride ourselves on always being friendly and professional, plus our approach reflects that we are team made up of FD’s and professional recruiters, so you can be sure of talking with someone who knows first hand what your issues and situation is likely to be. Many of our team have been entrepreneurs themselves so can really relate to our owner manager client base. See our sectors page to find more of our specialist Finance Directors.
Because we are so experienced we always find the best candidates.
