Gap Analysis Fundamentals To Maintain Forward Progress

When Dr. Pablo Valenzuela speaks on the fundamentals of conducting a gap analysis, he’s speaking from experience. Lots of it. Dr. Valenzuela is a distinguished scholar and biopharma leader, having played a pivotal role in discovering and developing  the Hepatitis C virus and the first recombinant vaccine (against the hepatitis B virus). He’s a multi-time founder of biotechs, launched Chile’s leading life sciences foundation, and currently serves as CEO at Andes Biotechnologies.

Gap analysis—defined as the process of reviewing all the available information for a candidate product to assess current development status, identify potential gaps in information, and the subsequent steps required to develop a strategy to fill those gaps—is in Dr. Valenzuela’s mind a fundamental and ongoing exercise.

“Gap analysis gives you a focus and perspective on what you’re missing,” Dr. Valenzuela told The Business Of Biotech podcast. “It allows you to think about what you want to become true, which is a clever management tool in any industry.” Dr. Valenzuela was joined on the podcast by Cristian Hernández-Cuevas, COO at Andes. Their collective reflections and advice on gap analysis execution provides real-world guidance for the leaders of emerging biopharma organizations.