“to live a great life means to participate in taking out a #disease.”
Meet a new motto of Arena BioWorks, a $500M experiment led by the renowned Stuart Schreiber and supported by five billionaires, Michael Dell, Stephen Pagliuca, Michael Chambers, Jim Breyer, and Elisabeth DeLuca. It allows scientists to work on breakthrough therapies unencumbered by patent hurdles, grant applications, and other challenges all so well-known for those on the rim of #academia and #industry.
It's planned to keep investing ~$50M or more annually to ensure the initiative is well-funded. With additional investments, the hub could grow to about $1.5B. Forty employees are already on board, with the goal of expanding to 100.
The distribution of profit will be 30/20/50, going to the founding investors, the support of new projects, and Arena's scientists and leadership, respectively. Sounds about fair, or?
I'm excited about what this initiative will bring. To me, it's yet another example of how the boundaries between academia and industry are becoming increasingly blurred.
Overall, I view this as a positive development since it fosters a scientific and entrepreneurial mindset, which is beneficial for us all. In my view, scientists should be well-compensated for their contributions.
At the same time, I'm slightly concerned that such lucrative projects might act like magnets, attracting the brightest minds and potentially overshadowing less financially rewarding areas of #science.
And what are your thoughts? 🙂
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1moCongratulations Harry Rickerby! I am now reading a biography of the Polish nuclear physicist Stan Ulam (who was a member of the Manhattan Project). It was the first time that the phrase "critical mass" appeared, and it has become popular to describe the minimum number of scientists working together needed to achieve successful results. The solutions you are working on play a much-needed role; progress is gradual, linear and slow below critical mass. Keep going! 👏