Fundamentals of Finance and Business: From Lab to Leadership

4 Credits.

This course provides an immersive introduction to the financial and business foundations that drive the biotechnology sector. It is designed for both students with no prior exposure to finance or business and those with experience seeking to deepen their expertise. The goal is to build a platform of knowledge and essential skills that allow students to confidently engage in financial and strategic decision-making.Core finance topics include the time value of money, valuation of stocks and bonds, the cost of capital, capital budgeting, investment evaluation, and financial statement analysis. These are integrated with business fundamentals such as strategic planning, competitive advantage, business model design, and financial forecasting. Together, these frameworks establish a powerful toolkit for understanding value creation in biotechnology.Learning is hands-on. Students gain experience by analyzing biotech case studies, building financial models, running scenario analyses, and developing business plans. These applied exercises connect finance and business concepts to real-world decisions. Attention is also given to broader forces—including interest rates, regulation, artificial intelligence, and digital assets—that influence value creation and strategic decisions in the sector.By the end of the course, students will have sharpened their financial knowledge and business mindset, strengthened their ability to communicate across disciplines, and developed the confidence to add value by evaluating opportunities, shaping strategies and driving innovation from lab to leadership.