Virtual Environment

Amongst my daily email reads are FiercePharma and PEHub Wire. Today, both reported that Catabasis Pharmaceuticals raised $39M in Series A financing (http://bit.ly/9Xrdfe) . While the news of a biotech raising VC funding is not really notable, it should be noted that Catabasis is utilizing the "virtual company" model that start-ups in all sectors tend to be using.

There are many arguments for and against the "virtual" model. Those in favor of it cite a lower burn and more flexibility as the most important reasons to adopting. But are these virtual companies to lean? Can they operate efficiently in an industry where development time lines are too long?

I've worked in a both the traditional and virtual models, and from my perspective it's hard to say which model is more efficient. It really depends on the type of team and the technology. One thing is certain - the virtual model is more popular than ever (in fact INC magazine is covering it in this month's issue). It'll be interesting to see if there is a significant shift to this model within the life sciences industry.