<DIV>This handbook lays out the basic principles of running a biotech company. Most managers in biotechnology companies are working for their first company or in their first managerial role. Their expertise and experience in the scientific part of the work can be a given, but there is a whole range of other skills and areas to lean and come to terms with. The contributors outline the state of the biopharmaceutical industry and go on to explain the importance of planning (no matter what the size of the company). They then deal with the basics of intellectual property, perspectives from a university technology transfer office and how to raise some initial funding from an investor and entrepreneur. The concluding chapters concentrate on the key skills required in managing research projects, emphasize the importance of concentrating on market needs from as early a stage as possible and advise on how to plan for success rather than hope that it arrives</div>