In this hands-on seminar, you’ll learn to read financial statements, manage budgets, select the right KPIs and evaluate investments. Practical tools and real-world scenarios from pharma, biotech and MedTech will give you the confidence to interpret financial data, build and defend budgets and communicate financial decisions effectively. No prior knowledge of accounting or finance is required.
Factsheet
- Degree
- Confirmation of participation
- Learning mode
- Onsite
- Next start
- 21.1.2027
- Duration
- 4 days
- Teaching language
- English
- Place
- FHNW Campus Muttenz, Hofackerstrasse 30, 4132 Muttenz
- Fee
- CHF 2 900
At a glance
- Bridge the gap from science to finance with Life-Sciences-specific scenarios.
- Master the three core financial statements: Income Statement, Balance Sheet and Cash Flow.
- Build, justify and control business cases and budgets, and communicate results effectively to finance and leadership.
- Leave with ready-to-use templates, a personal action plan and the confidence to lead financial conversations.
Aims and benefits
You will explore how financial thinking drives decision-making in the life sciences industry and how to connect scientific leadership with business impact. Combining essential financial concepts with hands-on workshops and real-world case studies, this seminar equips you with the skills to understand financial information, manage budgets, measure performance and make informed investment decisions.
By the end of the seminar you will be able to:
- Read and interpret financial statements.
- Build, justify and control budgets and analyse cost variances.
- Apply NPV, IRR and ROI to evaluate R&D projects and capital investments.
- Select and use the right KPIs to link operational activities to financial results.
- Develop a compelling business case and present it persuasively to finance and leadership.
Target audience
This seminar is designed for people with a scientific or technical background in the pharmaceutical, biotech and MedTech sectors who are taking on financial responsibility. It is equally valuable for experienced managers who want to sharpen their financial acumen and communicate more effectively with finance and leadership teams. No prior knowledge of accounting or finance is required. Participants include R&D team leads, project managers, medical affairs leads, marketing and sales managers, and production, QA or supply chain managers.
Structure and programme contents
The seminar combines short expert inputs with hands-on workshops, group work and real-world case studies from the life sciences industry. Each day builds on the previous one, culminating in a final capstone presentation before a simulated executive board on Day 4. This ensures that participants not only understand the concepts but can also apply them effectively.
Day 1: Finance fundamentals and mastering budgets
Participants decode the three core financial statements through a pharma lens, explore cost structures and build the foundation of their own departmental budget.
Part 1: Decoding financial statements including Income Statement, Balance Sheet, Cash Flow.
Group work: Diagnose the financial health of a pharma company.
Part 2: Budgeting, forecasting and cost control (fixed vs. variable, SG&A vs. COGS).
Deep Dive: Variance analysis.
Workshop: Build your department’s budget foundation
Day 2: KPIs, performance and business partnering
Participants select the right KPIs for their function, develop a KPI dashboard, and practice communicating financial news to finance and leadership.
Part 3: KPIs including selecting and using the right metrics.
Group Work: Develop a KPI dashboard for your function.
Business partnering skills: Situation-Impact-Recommendation framework.
Day 3: The pharma business model and investment decisions
Participants learn investment appraisal methods (NPV, IRR, ROI), simulate a Phase II Go/No-Go decision and explore pharma partnering models.
Part 4: Investment appraisal including NPV, IRR, ROI & Payback Period demystified.
Workshop: Phase II Go/No-Go decision simulation with sensitivity analysis.
Deep dive: The main factors affecting the pharma business model (pricing, CAPEX, OPEX).
Group work: Partnering models: licensing, co-development, acquisition for Pharma / Biotech / MedTech.
Day 4: Business case mastery and final presentations
Participants complete their business case and present their funding recommendation to a simulated Executive Board, demonstrating everything they have learned across the 4 days.
Part 5: Building a compelling business case including structure, storytelling, and common pitfalls.
Lecturer
Dr. Merike Glass. With a background in finance and managing multi-million-euro projects and platforms at Boehringer Ingelheim and Sanofi, Dr. Glass has been at the interface of finance, project management and business strategy for decades. Her training programmes are based on real-world pharma, biotech and MedTech scenarios, enabling participants to apply new skills immediately.
Organisational matters
Advising
Registration
Seminar Finance Essentials for Life Sciences Professionals
- Date
- 21.1.2027–5.2.2027
- Duration
- 4 days (21./22.1.2027, 4./5.2.2027)
- Place
- FHNW Campus Muttenz
- Final application date
- 17.12.2026