Pathways Project

The life sciences are big business in Greater Philadelphia.

Jeffery Jonas, founder of biotech start-up AVAX Technologies, calls the life sciences industry an “intellectual marketplace” bubbling with creativity and promise, with ideas rising and falling based solely on the merit and promise of their science.  But how much of this promise is lost when parts of society are unable to participate fully?

African Americans and other communities of color have been historically underrepresented in this industry—from scientists working at the bench, to entrepreneurs of biotech start-ups, to the management suites of large pharmaceutical companies. 

Pathways reached out to hundreds of African Americans and other minorities and reported on the their experiences and the perceptions of minorities within the life sciences in Greater Philadelphia, seeking ways to increase the participation of African Americans and other minorities in biotech and life science enterprise.  Some of the key findings from the report:

• There are African Americans currently in a career track at the existing large pharmaceutical and biomedical companies in the region who have intellectual property and are interested in entrepreneurship.
• The systems and resources set up to help with business formation are not reaching out effectively to the African Americans in these industries.
• Mentorship was a critical element for all successful African American life science entrepreneurs, but there is no formalized network in place and minimal networking opportunities set up to encourage the exchange necessary to begin these types of mentoring relationships.