In life sciences, visibility isn’t enough — credibility and trust are what opens doors
In the pharma and biotech industries, visibility alone isn’t enough — credibility, trust and engagement are what effectively provides access to the relevant industry investors, analysts, and journalists.
Small and mid-sized life sciences companies must manage their financial resources responsibly. This is why some of them believe that an industry-focused media release distribution service is all they need to reach the right editors, investors or business and scientific partners. They claim that their press releases are already well-structured, accurate, newsworthy and ready to publish. They therefore don’t see any added value provided by “communications agency chatters”.
Careful handling of money is important, of course. However, it is wrong to cut corners when it comes to communication:
- Experience shows that press releases produced in-house often fail to meet the content and structure requirements of media and investors.
- Furthermore, distribution platforms can send news far and wide to a globally targeted audience, but they cannot ensure that the news will be noticed, understood or trusted by relevant journalists, analysts and investors.
- Automated news portals that publish industry news without any editorial input do generate coverage, but it is not of value.
Communication consultants specializing in the life sciences industry offer much more than distributing press releases. They help to shape the corporate or equity story of a company by translating complex scientific concepts into clear, compliant messages that can be understood also by a broader audience. They position pharma and biotech companies as credible voices in a competitive media and investor landscape. Trade journalists and investors receive dozens of press releases each day. What makes them pause and raise their interest is context and relevance, not automated news feeds alone.
Leading communication advisors build relationships with journalists, follow developments in the business sector, ensure that a company’s message aligns with its long-term strategy, and tailor each communication to strengthen their clients' reputation over time.
Any pharma or biotech SME aiming to attract investors, business partners or new talent needs more than just reach. They need strategic media communication to build trust and visibility with and enable access to the right people.
This access to the right poses a particular challenge for life sciences companies based outside the United States. The US market is the largest and most lucrative pharmaceutical market in the world and therefore also has the largest number of investors and analysts in the industry. In addition, it is comparatively easier for young and emerging companies to obtain venture capital in the United States. A passive presence on news portals and in trade media online feeds can be helpful for getting access to meetings with US investors. But it is not a necessity. Rather, a requirement is contact with relevant individuals who are well-intentioned towards one's own company. It is obvious that a communications consultancy firm also has such contacts and can act as an intermediary.