Dr Brian Ward | How I built a $200 million Biotech Business | Ep 21

Today’s guest is Dr Brian Ward, Founder and CEO of Aroa Biosurgery, an ASX-listed, biotech company with with a ~$200 m AUD market capitalisation.

This episode is brought to you by SAPRO Consulting: https://www.saproconsulting.com.au/

Aroa Biosurgery is a New Zealand-based, ASX-listed biotech company that develops and commercializes novel products that promote wound healing and soft-tissue repair. Their proprietary products, developed from tissue taken from the fore-stomach of sheep, provide the body with structural and biological components that provide a head start in the healing process. 

Biotech is a hard business. It's expensive, time-consuming and the road to success is fraught with difficulty and complexity and many biotech companies never make it to profitability. Despite this, there are a number of biotech entrepreneurs with such a fire within them that the odds seem to be in their favour. 

Dr Ward's and the Aroa Biosurgery story is remarkable. From the idea, to the product, the manufacturing and commercialisation, the various challenges that have arisen have been overcome resulting in a compelling success story that would inspire any current, or aspiring, biotech entrepreneur. 

In this episode, Dr Ward and I discuss:
1. The eureka moment that made Brian pivot from clinical practice to entrepreneurial endeavour
2. The science and technology that underpins their novel products
3. Brian's tips for aspiring biotech entrepreneurs - just get started, understand it will not be easy, be prepared for a "game of attrition" and surround your self with people smarter than you.

You can find out more about Brian Ward and Aroa Biosurgery here:
  / brian-ward678  
  / aroa-biosurgery-limited  
https://aroa.com/

Timestamps:
00:00 Teaser
00:21 Introduction
02:30 Pivoting from clinical practice to biotech
05:55 Aroa Biosurgery
09:28 How their product is made
16:22 Commercialization journey
21:25 Capital rationing
25:47 Cost of clinical trials
32:10 Choosing what to develop
34:17 The role of a CEO
39:15 Internal monologue/dialogue
42:06 How the NZL landscape has changed over time
44:40 Advice for budding entrepreneurs

Dr Brian Ward | How I built a $200 million Biotech Business | Ep 21
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