LinkedIn Tips For The Biotech Professional

Using Social Networking Sites in Biotechnology Projects Donald Low, PhD

Current Macro Trends What are the big trends affecting us today? How might they affect our company? Our project? Recession Globalization Health Care Reform/Change Internet Web 2.0 high unemployment tight funding downward price pressure development efficiency Social Networking

Happy 40 th Birthday Internet! 1969 – DoD’s ARPANET connects computers at 4 sites 1971 – ARPANET expands to 23 server sites Early 70’s – advent of email messaging 1981 – ARPANET now has 213 sites 1982 – term “internet” first used 1987 – more than 10,000 internet hosts 1989 – more than 100,000 internet hosts – AOL ISP launched 1992 – more than 1,000,000 internet hosts 1995 – Yahoo! founded 1998 – Google founded 2003 – LinkedIn founded 2004 – Facebook founded 2006 – Twitter launched

The Web 2.0 Revolution Initially, most web sites had a one-way flow of information Content was generated by the owner of the domain Users visit site to access information, then leave In Web 2.0 sites, information flows in more than one direction Much or all of the content is user-generated Users form communities based on common interests The internet provides a conduit for information flow between network/community members The power of Web 2.0 sites is dependent on the quality of user contributions

What Are Social Networking Sites? Any website that organizes content generated by related individuals together into groups Social networking sites serve to facilitate information transfer between network members Relatively new innovation in web history Many/most popular social networking sites have entertainment focus Network members share photos, status updates, music etc. Facebook, Flickr, Myspace and others LinkedIn has professional focus

Leverage 2 nd and 3 rd Degree Connections All social networks are hierarchical You  your friends  your friend’s friends  so on LinkedIn provides an explicit bridge between you and your 2 nd and 3 rd degree connections Information is readily available on them via searches LinkedIn provides a convenient means to contact them Your 2 nd and 3 rd degree connections represent a large body of potential knowledge and resources Most people typically use for job searching, networking Can these resources be used for biotech project related work?

DL’s LinkedIn Network Structure

DL’s LinkedIn Network is Distributed Bubble diagram made using ManyEyes visualization tool

Social Networks are Highly Complex DL’s Facebook account 121 friends All 1 st degree contacts Visualization shows complex web of interconnections Some friends know other friends in other contexts “ hidden relationships” Network diagram generated using GUESS

Family & Friends Gryphon Caltech Cycling PDL Ethos Climbing/Yoga Visualization Shows Links Between Groupings

So How Does This Help Us? Effective project team leaders can find resources that can advance the program, including Information resources People with specific expertise Other companies – potential collaborators/competitors Assist with clinical trial recruiting and post-launch monitoring Social networking sites can be used to identify “hidden” individuals who can contribute to a project

The Dunbar Number and Hidden Skills Sociologists theorize that humans (and primates) naturally organize themselves into groups The maximum number of individuals in a group where familiarity is maintained is limited Dunbar predicted the maximum group size where you can “know everyone” is 148 In larger companies, the ability to “know” everyone drops off quickly There may be employees with specific skills and expertise that you do not know about

Complex Groups, Complex Projects Biotech companies can be highly complex social groups Diverse employee training and prior experiences Many biotech projects are also highly complex Purely “homegrown” projects are less common Many projects have multiple technology components that are in-licensed from other companies or accessed via collaboration Use social networking tools to find people that address both types of complexity

Example: Antibody Drug Conjugates Genentech T-DM1 Trastuzumab, humanized monoclonal antibody Technology licensed from PDL Biopharma DM-1 linker conjugate technology licensed from Immunogen

Interactive Session: Advanced Search Run search for ex-PDL employees at Genentech – there may be more than you suspect! Could have expertise relevant to humanization Run search for ex-employees for Immunogen Could be valuable as outside consultants or potential employees Run general search for antibody drug conjugates Who turns up could be valuable for identifying potential competitors or collaborators

Advanced Search: Ex-PDL People at Genentech

More PDL alumni than I thought

Advanced Search – ex-Immunogen Employees

Using Dynamic Search Refinements

Advanced Search: Finding Talent Abroad What if your team needs help in another country where you don’t have a site? My team once needed a person-in-plant at a facility in Switzerland for an extended period of time LinkedIn can help identify people you are connected to in specific locations with a desired skill Interactive session : Searching for peptide chemists in Switzerland who are available as consultants. There may be more than you think!

What about Small Companies? Biotech is a highly capital intensive industry How connected are you to venture capital firms? Getting an opportunity for a first pitch can be critical Go with introduction through trusted network instead Interactive session : Using company search on VC firms Examples: DL’s connections to Sierra Partners, USVP

LinkedIn vs. Corporate Intranets Most medium to large companies have corporate intranets Limited search options – most common search by name Turns up phone numbers and location and place in org chart No content on employee expertise or career history Future corporate intranets may combine LinkedIn-like content specific to company personnel Pro: more internal coverage if mandatory Con: no information on external personnel

Social Networks and Clinical Trials Human trials are the most costly phase of drug development Pressure to improve efficiency of clinical trials Better recruitment More focused patient populations Fewer failures = lower clinical costs Use social networking sites to obtain information to support trial design, recruiting and post market surveillance

Example: www.patientslikeme.com Populations of patients grouped by disease state post and share information on… Their condition/disease state Current, past and future treatments Side effects Content comes directly from patients Not subject to HIPAA regulations Some users post a surprising amount of data Need to be aware of selection bias Data quality issues? Advice & info available on symptoms, treatment effectiveness, side effects & more

Interactive Session: patientslikeme.com Home page Example member profile Community pages Treatment data page

Other Social Networking Sites Facebook Designed to share photos, status updates and other entertainment-oriented content with network of friends Excellent resource for organizing meetings Can be tough to separate personal and professional content Twitter Popular site used as channel to rapidly distribute information Tweets are microblogs up to 140 characters long Users can choose to follow specfic people/companies for info Most large biotechs don’t seem to use Twitter

Final Thoughts Social networking sites have made it into the mainstream for personal use The use of social networking sites in the workplace is just beginning but the potential is high Existing tools like LinkedIn can be useful in supporting project work Expect growth of social networking applications in the workplace with new applications to maximize team resources Already significant interest in use of social networks to improve clinical trials & safety monitoring

Remember… Web 2.0 sites depend on user content – they are useless without it Update your profile and add as much content as you feel comfortable with. It will help you and others using the site. Build your network – try to get at least 30 contacts to make effective use of network effects Try to focus on people you trust Take advantage of the advanced search function Keep an open mind and realistic expectations

Suggested Reading & Links Globalization: The World is Flat , Thomas Friedman Network Visualization Web 2.0 Tool, IBM’s ManyEyes, http://manyeyes.alphaworks.ibm.com/manyeyes/ Web-based constellation network diagrams http://danielmclaren.net/ Recent articles on social media and medicine “ Can Web 2.0 Reboot Clinical Trials?” Malorye Allison ,Nature Biotechnology 27 , 895-902 “ The Power of Social Networking in Medicine” Catherine A Brownstein, John S Brownstein, David S Williams, Paul Wicks, James A Heywood, Nature Biotechnology 27 , 888-890

LinkedIn Tips For The Biotech Professional

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