Fractional CFO for biotech companies
Biotech finance is defined by the distance between cash out and revenue in. Multi-year clinical programmes consume capital years before product, and the model is built around milestones - IND, Phase 1, Phase 2, BLA - not commercial KPIs. Revenue, when it exists, comes from licensing upfronts, milestone payments, royalties and grant or tax credit income, and the research base does not flex when those payments slip. Runway management is the highest-stakes finance task in the company.
The function is built around programme-level R&D cost accounting. Spend is attributed to programme and indication, split between capitalisable development and expensed research, accrued against CRO contracts, manufacturing slots and clinical site invoicing patterns that lag by weeks or months. Licensing deals with development, regulatory, commercial and royalty tranches need each component recognised in the right period, with milestone modelling feeding cash forecasts held against the next readout.
Flow provides financial modelling, FP&A and fractional CFO advisory to biotech companies across small-molecule and biologics developers, cell and gene therapy operators, platform and discovery-stage biotechs, diagnostics-linked therapeutics and CRO and CDMO businesses. Our startup CFO team delivers the programme-level FP&A and financial modelling each readout has to be financed against.
KPIs to track for "biotech" startups
We're very 'KPI-driven' fractional CFOs, and we make sure to monitor the right metrics for your startup.
Cash runway
Quarterly R&D burn
Active programmes
Programmes in clinic
Next clinical milestone
IND / BLA / NDA progress
Patients enrolled
Partnership revenue
Grant funding secured
G&A as % of opex
Financial modelling for "biotech" startups
As fractional CFOs, we build KPI-driven financial models that are insightful and easy to maintain.
Financial modelling is both art and science - models must be robust, but also understandable, and useful for both internal planning and VC fundraising purposes. Hire a fractional CFO who knows how to handle both sides of the equation.
Programme-level R&D cost accounting
Spend attributed to programme and indication, split between capitalisable development and expensed research, with shared platform cost allocated on a defensible basis. The cost view the board and any future licensing counterparty both need.
Milestone-anchored runway model
Cash burn modelled against the next IND, Phase 1/2/3, BLA or NDA readout, with the financing requirement to reach each milestone explicit. Runway expressed in milestones reached, not just months remaining.
CRO and CMO accrual
CRO study spend and CDMO manufacturing slot cost accrued against patient enrolment and batch progress, not invoice date. Invoicing lags can run months and the P&L without proper accrual understates research spend until it appears in lumps.
Licensing deal recognition
Upfront payments, development milestones, regulatory milestones, commercial milestones and royalties recognised in the right period under ASC 808 or IFRS 15. The single most material recognition judgement in any licensing-revenue biotech.
Patient enrolment and trial economics
Enrolment rate by site against the per-patient cost of CRO, drug supply, site fees and central lab work. The cost-per-patient line drives most of the variability in the burn forecast through a Phase 2 or 3.
Grant and tax credit income
Grant funding recognised against eligible spend with conditional repayment provisions tracked, and R&D tax credit claims accrued on the underlying qualifying activity. Often the difference between a financeable runway and one that triggers a bridge.
Founders and investors we've worked with
We've supported winning builders across biotech and beyond.
Cannadorf
As a fractional CFO we helped Cannadorf, an Israel-based pharma-grade medical cannabis leader applying tissue culture technologies, build out its financial plan ahead of scaling production.
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Cannabis Innovation Center
We acted as fractional CFO to Cannabis Innovation Center, a Tel Aviv-based medical cannabis group developing multiple cannabis-based therapies, providing internal valuation guidance.
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BiomX
As a fractional CFO we performed a confidential valuation of BiomX, a Tel Aviv-based clinical-stage microbiome therapeutics company, supporting Elevator Fund's portfolio management.
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TBô
We acted as fractional CFO to TBô, a Zurich-based tech-enabled DTC male underwear brand, building a bottom-up financial / operating model with cohort-level KPIs and positioning the company for its next venture round.
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Onlogist
We acted as fractional CFO to Onlogist, a Hamburg-based online marketplace for last-mile vehicle transfer, providing confidential valuation guidance and operating model support.
See moreRecent fractional CFO track record
See our fractional CFO and financial modelling experience across biotech and beyond.
Simple pricing
No hidden costs, no complicated long-term contracts. We understand how important flexibility is for biotech startups.
Per month
- Accounting / FP&A tech stack implementation
- Monthly financial statements and reporting pack
- Quarterly board pack with detailed financial analysis (with variance analysis vs. budget, relevant KPI observations etc.)
- Investor-friendly output
Per month
- Everything in Core, plus
- Operating model (via an online platform like Runway or Excel-based)
- Ongoing model maintenance, refining projections, burn/runway management
- Customer cohorts modelling, churn and retention analysis
- LTV / CAC, unit economics analysis
- Cap table management
Per month
- Everything in Grow, plus
- M&A / fundraising support; review of business plan
- Pitch deck preparation
- Investor approach strategy / list building
- Due diligence support and deal negotiation
- Valuation as required and free access to Multiples Pro
Packages shown are illustrative, final pricing is tailored to client requirements.
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We know tech inside & out.
We provide fractional CFO services to companies operating across the entire tech.
More services
We help you scale by providing fractional CFO advice, through fundraising and a successful M&A exit.
VC fundraising for biotech companies
We help you prepare materials, reach out to investors in our extensive network, negotiate fair term sheets and structure the VC round.
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We advise winning tech companies on M&A exits, and over the years successfully executed numerous transactions with both financial and strategic buyers.
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