Engineers and investors can and should communicate, says biohealth expert Jean-Pierre Saintouil.

Before he became the CEO of the Cancer Bio-Santé innovation cluster, Jean-Pierre Saintouil spent 18 years at Sanofi-Diagnostics- Pasteur and another six at the Institut Pasteur, in charge of technology transfers. In these positions, he became closely acquainted with the faulty communication between the various communities that play essential roles in technological innovation: researchers, business leaders and financial investors. “When engineers talk about their work, they invariably focus on the technological aspects. They often forget to present a business case.” The rifts exist even inside the R&D community: “Scientists engaged in fundamental research tend to be biased against applied research: they are more interested in academic publications.” But things have changed in the past decade and new opportunities are emerging for investors.