Biotech ER vs IB
Hi all, I am currently an economics undergrad that has gained a lot of interest in the biotech space. I will be interning in biotech IB (not centerview) for my SA, but I hope to either break into biotech ER or re recruit for centerview. I know I want to pursue biotech and pharmaceuticals for my career, and from what I have gathered, equity research would allow me to learn much more about the products driving many of these massive transactions. I also believe this would make me more marketable to hedge funds down the line, which is ultimately where I see myself.
Coming out of undergrad with a non-science degree, how feasible would it be to land a biotech ER job for full time? What materials would you recommend I start learning in order to prepare myself scientifically? Would I be able to get similar HF looks out of banking, or do HFs look for higher technical proficiency than what is learned in IB? How important is working for an II rated analyst? (will you gain HF traction just from working under an insane analyst?) (have seen evr isi with strong analysts like cory kasimov/umer raffat, but also know schimmer left recently so don't know how much of a gap was left from his departure; have also been looking at stifel, cowen etc)
I am fully determined to spend my entire senior year studying if that is what it takes but I understand my background is not conventional, so please be honest.
Kaplan MCAT prep book
I’ll sweat if I have to
lol well I came in post med school so not sure how college recruiting works, but what I will say is that most of the people who join out of undergrad did an internship the year prior and happened to be placed in the biotech group (for those without doctorates). Most that I see without the degree is just dumb luck out of undergrad. They got an internship and happened to work with a biotech team.
With that said it’s possible, but you might have to sweat it out in biotech banking before moving. Just saw this guy at GS who moved from biotech IB at WB to GS ER biotech. Tbf he spent three years in banking prior to joining. It’s tough because it’s need based and not a class.
lol you’re willing do get a medical degree just to do biotech ER… that’s literally insane
I did / do both.
Basically, ER seats open up randomly and you cannot count on landing a biotech ER role right out of college. Start in IB for a year or two, get your modeling skills sharp (ER models are 90% trash), then move to an ER seat when it opens up.
Read EndPts, follow a couple smid cap biotechs in a therapeutic space that interests you, read their news releases, earnings transcripts, scientific conference materials, etc.
It all depends on the shop. Plenty take people out of banking, and a lot take out of ER. Depends if you want to be a business / model expert or a science expert (will be tough to compete with the PhDs and MDs, but not saying you cant)
It's not. There are many other voting factors that happen that arent published in II. More important to join a fundamentalist team (actually does deep dives and makes calls).
Got it. Thank you for the thoughtful responses.
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