What should investors look for when evaluating a Life Sciences company?

Beyond the science and the financial model, the factors that decide the return: whether there is real demand or only early enthusiasm, whether the commercial model produces durable recurring revenue, whether the team can take the product to market, the regulatory and reimbursement reality, and an honest path to value.

Insights · Field note

Five Things I Pressure-Test in a Life Sciences Deal

A glimpse of how I help investors and private equity firms read a deal the way an operator would.

By Kamni Vijay, PhD · KMV Advisory

Most diligence on a Life Sciences deal goes deep on the science and the financial model, and surprisingly light on the question that decides the return: can this actually be sold and scaled? I spent twenty-five years running these businesses. Now I sit on the other side of the table with investors, as the operator in the room.

Here are five things I look at first. The detailed work behind each one is what I bring into an engagement, but this is the shape of it.

1Real demand, or early enthusiasm

Friendly pilots and design partners can hide a market that is not there yet. I look for signs that the mainstream buyer will move, and for what it will take to get them there.

2A commercial model that compounds

In tools and Diagnostics especially, the instrument is only the entry point. The consumables, the service, and the recurring revenue are what make a business durable, and I look hard at whether those streams are real or wishful.

3A team that can take it to market

Brilliant science does not guarantee commercial execution. I assess whether the people in place can carry this to revenue, and where the team will need to grow before it can.

4Regulatory and reimbursement reality

A clearance or a reimbursement code can decide the economics of the entire deal. I pressure-test the path, the timeline, and what it will actually cost to get there.

5The honest path to value

I look past the plan on the slide to the plan that survives the market, and form a view on which moves truly drive the return and which are hopeful.

Behind each of these is a fuller framework, built from having owned the number in businesses like the ones you are evaluating. That is the part I bring into the room with you.

Talk through a deal

Kamni Vijay, PhD is the founder of KMV Advisory and a Life Sciences and TechBio operator with more than twenty-five years running global businesses in Genomics, Diagnostics, and Life Science Tools, including roles as CEO and General Manager at Bio-Techne, Becton Dickinson, Agilent, and Bio-Rad. She works alongside investors and private equity firms as the operator in their diligence.