MONTREAL, Dec. 17, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Three of the biotech industry’s trusted advisory firms: KreaMedica, Venture Valuation, and Lacerta Bio, today announced the release of The First-Time Biotech CEO Playbook, a practical guide designed to help new biotech leaders avoid the predictable mistakes that derail early-stage companies.
Built from decades of combined experience working with founders, scientific leaders, investors, and global development teams, the Ebook distills the core decisions that define whether a biotech is destined for success or failure. While most first-time CEOs enter the role with strong scientific expertise, many are unprepared for the operational, financial, regulatory, and strategic decisions that ultimately determine whether their companies thrive or stall.
“Most biotech failures have little to do with the science,” said Karl-Rudolf (Rudi) Erlemann, President and CEO of KreaMedica. “They stem from avoidable decisions around hiring, funding strategy, timelines, communications, and partnerships. We built this resource to help new CEOs recognize these patterns early and navigate them with confidence.”
The playbook organizes insights across seven critical areas from building the right vision and narrative, to fundraising strategy, regulatory planning, preclinical development, and partnership decisions. Each chapter draws on the real-life experience of advisors who have supported hundreds of first-time CEOs through pivotal inflection points.
What the Playbook Covers
- Defining a compelling vision and corporate narrative
- Building purposeful networks and finding the right advisors
- Setting up early financial discipline and realistic runway planning
- Designing a practical fundraising strategy that investors respect
- Knowing when to partner, when to hold, and how to build leverage
- Aligning regulatory, preclinical, and CMC plans from day one
- Deciding what to keep in-house versus what to outsource
Whether spinning out from academia, launching from industry, or building a company around an acquired asset, new CEOs face a steep learning curve. This playbook was created to shorten it, and help founders make decisions that build resilient, investable, execution-ready companies.
The Ebook can be downloaded at: https://kreamedica.com/the-first-time-biotech-ceo-playbook/
About KreaMedica
KreaMedica is a collaborative drug development partner supporting biotech and pharma companies across regulatory strategy, clinical development, CMC, toxicology, and program leadership. With a seasoned global network of experts, KreaMedica helps early-stage companies de-risk development and accelerate progress toward value-creating milestones.
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Kari Bennett
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