Each fall the Kelley School’s Center for the Business of Life Sciences coordinates the X419 and X519 Life Sciences Industry from Research to Patient course for undergraduate and graduate business and science students. The course is taught by the CBLS Director, George Telthorst. The course includes over twenty guest lecturers from the industry as well as a semester long project. The course introduces students to all the parts of the industry along with their opportunities and challenges: basic science, medical devices, pharmaceuticals/ generics/biotech, health care providers, insurers, supporting products and services, etc. The business of life sciences is more successful when those involved in the industry recognize and understand the value added at each stage.
This fall’s course was sponsored by IU Innovates, IU Ventures and the IU Innovation and Commercialization Office (ICO) and Kelley alumnus John Voris.
Each fall the project is focused on a life sciences start-up from the IU School of Medicine. The expectation is that teams will develop a reasonable best case-proposed innovative solution and implementation strategy for a market problem. They must first identify the attractiveness and make appropriate recommendations of a commercial opportunity from a best-case scenario prior to committing valuable limited resources to further development. Teams make reasonable assumptions related to the necessary commercialization steps to generate their best-case scenarios. Unreasonable assumptions are challenged during the Q&A period of the oral presentations. Teams must be prepared to justify their assumptions.
The goal is for the teams to gain:
- An understanding of the life science industry.
- The ability to identify and formulate effective commercialization strategies.
- Effective team management skills while working in an interdisciplinary team.
- Effectively express their ideas both in written form and visual presentation.
Relate XR Logo
This semester students comprised of business and science students worked on a project with Relate XR, a digital therapeutics startup leveraging virtual reality (VR) technology to address substance use disorders (SUDs). Founded in 2021, and a spin-out of research conducted at Indiana University School of Medicine, Relate XR has developed a novel VR intervention that shows promising results in treating addiction and preventing relapse. Dr. Brandon Oberlin from the Psychiatry Department at the IU School of Medicine and Andrew Nelson, a pioneer in extended reality technologies, are the co-founders. Izzy Branam, a young software entrepreneur, is leading the company’s commercialization and go-to-market strategy. The company’s intellectual property is owned by Indiana University and exclusively licensed to Relate XR. The technology has a pending patent to protect the IP.
Students had to submit a strategic plan and milestone report part way through the semester. In addition, the graduate teams had to submit a financial analysis. For the final, students had to provide an overview of the market, compare/contrast the company’s approach with other ideas and provide a value proposition for stakeholders and an overview of a commercialization plan and its rationale. Teams were to recommend any additional uses for the technology. Graduate teams provided financial strategies for anticipated financial returns.
“It was inspiring to see the thoughtful presentations and professionalism of both the graduate and undergraduate Kelly students. Their insights gave the Relate XR team new creative ideas to consider. Congratulations on a job well done. I believe we will see business success stories emerge from this cohort of students!”
– Dr. Brandon Oberlin, Chief Scientific Officer, Relate XR, Assistant Professor, Department of Psychiatry, Indiana University School of Medicine
Winning Graduate Team- Winning Graduate Team Christian Brooks, Paige Davis, Jose Pedro Heerdink-Santos, Ramzan Miah, Rex Rumsey, and Xiaofei Song
2nd Place Graduate Team- Chingiz Bakayev, Cecelia Gonzales Hernandez, Rohit Maharaj, Alex Sanchez, Maddy Spencer and Simon Stretz
Winning Undergraduate Team- Ayushi Chudgar, Mary Denny, Eric Howell, Pamela Vega, Aidan Ye, Jay Zheng
“Of the 50 million individuals struggling with substance use disorder (SUD), only 10% seek rehabilitation, and for the 70% who do pursue services, it often takes multiple attempts before achieving recovery. Working with Relate XR was especially rewarding because their product empowers individuals to envision and choose a better version of their future selves.
Our team developed three models based on Relate XR’s recent clinical trial, which demonstrated an impressive 86% abstinence rate. The results highlight how Relate XR can save payers and states billions of dollars by facilitating faster recovery, preventing the development of costly health complications associated with prolonged addiction, and enabling individuals to remain productive members of their communities. Our team was amazed that this cutting-edge technology could redefine recovery and give millions the opportunity to rewrite their stories.”
-Rex Rumsey, MBA Candidate, Class of ‘25
The course was very diverse, not just because of the different graduate and undergraduate majors but also because of the ideas that came from everyone. Because of everyone’s diverse backgrounds and curiosity, my favorite part of the course was the quality of the questions you heard from classmates. My favorite part about the project was helping a start-up company prepare for commercialization and presenting our team’s recommendation at the end of the course.
-Jay Zheng, Bachelors of Science in Biotechnology & Liberal Arts Management Program (LAMP) Candidate, Class of ’25
Judges- George Telthorst, CBLS; Doug Baker, Labcorp; Leslie Snyder, IU Health; Brandon Oberlin, Relate XR; Andrew Nelson, Relate XR; Izzy Branam, Relate XR; and Julie Heath, IU Commercialization Office
Thank you to the Relate XR Team; Brandon Oberlin, Andrew Nelson and Izzy Branam for working with the students! Additional thanks to all the guest lectures during the six weeks of class. A summary can be found on the CBLS blog from each week. We appreciate CBLS Industry Advisory Board Members Doug Baker of Labcorp and Leslie Snyder of IU Health for joining professor George Telthorst and the Relate XR team in evaluating the student’s presentations!
Learn more about the Kelley MBA Academy PLUS Life Sciences and Graduate & Undergraduate Life Sciences Associates program- https://kelley.iu.edu/faculty-research/centers-institutes/business-of-life-sciences/students/index.html
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