Based on experience and the existing limited research literature in biotechnology corporate governance, the authors propose potential attributes of minimum corporate governance standards for biotechnology companies, as a basis for further quantitative and qualitative research. The authors assert that the recent proliferation of biotechnology start-up organizations is substantively changing inter- and intraorganizational cultures throughout the health care sector via a "cascade of governance." Therefore, governance decisions and actions-both positive and negative-that are instituted in start-up biotech companies may set new norms for other start-up biotech companies, the larger (bio)pharmaceutical companies by which they are acquired and the range of health care subsector actors that interact with biotechnology companies. The authors stress the importance of appropriate, proportionate, and consistent biotech corporate governance throughout company lifecycles, not simply to support value inflection or as a response to a crisis. Fail to govern, fail to succeed-for investors and, most importantly, for patients.
Keywords: biotechnology; governance; standards; translation.