The importance of following a disciplined development process for new biological products cannot be overstated. Innovators must carefully manage each stage throughout the development process to ensure a successful launch. How can we optimize R&D to ensure new biological products gain adoption on farm?
Answer right questions in the right order
Intellectual property (IP) rights are important for all innovations, and this is particularly true for biological products. A common misstep for many startups is failing to manage their IP when determining the timeline, resource allocation and adoption process for farmers.
Protecting their intellectual property should be considered during the concepting and design phase. Protecting IP rights allows biological products to attract investors, gain market access, avoid regulatory issues and facilitate technology transfer. Most importantly, it allows them to become a commercially viable product.
Many innovators believe they will move directly from a concept to instant product success, but development takes many years and is a complex process. However, the successful management of IP through each stage will decrease the complexities on the path to commercialization and allow for a competitive advantage that can impact product adoption on farm.
Establish Effective Distribution Channels & Programs
Product distribution creates many challenges for new products entering the marketplace. Without proper distribution, many fail to gain visibility in the marketplace, which limits widespread success and adoption. So, how can companies establish effective distribution channels to make their biological products accessible to farmers?
AgriThority® leaders Jerry Duff, Ignacio Colonna and Gloverson Moro, Ph.D. have deep experience working with startups to find the right partners around the globe.
First, finding the right distribution partner is key. It’s important that your partner understands and embraces your product, so they can effectively get your product to market. Then it’s important to fit the biological product into a program, so your distributors can educate the farmer on how the biological product can be integrated on farm. Finally, biological products can gain faster adoption by developing Best Management Practices to prepare the farmer to successfully integrate your product.
Understanding Biologicals
To truly transform R&D in the biological space, it’s important to understand how biologicals are different from conventional products and to know they require a different approach. Biologicals must be viewed as part of the solution, instead of the solution and often should be used as a preventive measure instead of a corrective. Ultimately, your biological product must be able to fit into a full-fledged production program and prove value.
A deep understanding of the nature of biologicals will allow you to educate farmers on the value, allow them to understand how your biological product will enhance their current practices, and accelerate adoption.
Many steps are needed to ensure a concept becomes a successful product. Managing IP from Discovery, establishing an efficient regulatory pathway, selecting effective distribution channels, and understanding biologicals — where, when and why they do and don’t work — will help companies move through the development process to capitalize on their research investment.
Gloverson Moro, Ph.D. will discuss these topics and more on a featured main-stage panel at World Agri-Tech Innovation Summit on March 19, 2024. The session focuses on biological adoption and will cover topics from the success and commercial viability of biological crop inputs on farms and the need for transformational R&D in biologicals, to challenges for start-ups when managing intellectual property, resource allocation, and adoption process for farmers. To schedule a meeting with Gloverson during the Summit, click here.
To prepare your product for adoption, trust AgriThority® to be your native guide. With internationally recognized leaders connected to more than 400 local specialists in a worldwide network, we bring deep experience testing more than 770 technologies across thousands of field trial locations for 250+ multi-national, mid-size and start-up companies.