Student Entrepreneurs Learn Language and Lessons of Biotech
By Sabrina Smith Davis

enetic cloning technology, experimental medical treatment and agricultural product engineering were hot topics in a popular new Kenan-Flagler class taught last fall. Colorful diagrams at the front of the classroom were peppered with words such as “primary RNA transcript,” “inactive protein” and “nuclear pore.”

Was this an MBA class or a scientific laboratory? The answer — a little bit of both.

The research of Ryszard Kole (above), a UNC professor of pharmacology, led to the founding of the new university spin-off, Ercole Biotech, of which Richard Kouri is co-founder and CEO. Kole participated in the dean's "Launching the Company" class.

The course, “Entrepreneurship in the Biotechnology Industry,” was designed to teach students to speak the language of genomics, to overcome the fear of biotech and to understand the business models in entrepreneurial biotech companies. Course readings included information on molecular genetics, the Human Genome Project, and ethics and regulatory issues.

“I was surprised by how much the students already knew,” said adjunct professor Richard E. “Dick” Kouri, chief evangelist of biotech at Kenan-Flagler. “We had three or four MDs and PhDs in the class and other highly technical people. It was nice to have their perspective.”

Kouri holds a PhD in radiation biology and has started seven biotechnology companies. Kenan-Flagler hired him as the entrepreneur-in-residence to guide the introduction of biotechnology into the curriculum, develop strategies for future biotech programs and to counsel students interested in biotech careers.

“There is a staggering amount of scientific discovery going on in local companies and university labs, and there is risk capital available to fund its commercialization,” said Jeff Reid, executive director of Kenan-Flagler’s Center for Entrepreneurship and Technology Venturing. “The missing ingredient is a strong pool of entrepreneurial leaders who understand both the science and the business issues.”

Plans are under way for a complete slate of biotech courses. Kouri has agreed to teach again this fall. Until then, he will be busy as CEO and co-founder of Nanolytics and Ercole Biotech; and he recently became managing director of a venture capital firm, Synecor LLC, in Research Triangle Park.

“That kind of activity is precisely why we hired him,” Reid said. “I am hoping the technology that Dick Kouri talks about will soon be available, just so that we can clone Dick and have him teach more.”