Advanced BioIndustry Ethics
As leaders of tomorrow’s bioscience industry, KGI graduates will be at the forefront in the development of new
diagnostics, pharmaceuticals, biologics and medical devices — and will be confronted with ethical issues
concerning the research, development, marketing and sale of related products. Stakeholders in the companies
our students will lead — including clinical trial participants, patients, partners, employees, investors, activist
groups, and the media — will be paying close attention to the ethical behavior of those companies and their
leaders. Conflicts will continue to exist, between those who support freewheeling scientific exploration, and
those who fear the consequences of unfettered scientific inquiry. Undoubtedly, the debate surrounding the
moral dimension of bioscience will continue, and increase. Almost certainly, it will be increasingly important
for bioscience leaders to consider the ethical ramifications of their work.
This half-semester course, designed to complement ALS 341 Introduction to Bioethics, provides second-year KGI masters degree students with an opportunity to extend and apply their developing understanding of “bioindustry ethics” to scenarios they may well confront (and need to resolve) when they join the ranks of bioscience leaders. Building on case studies developed at the Stanford University Graduate School of Business, the Center for Biomedical Ethics at the Stanford School of Medicine, the Association of Schools of Public Health, and the Keck Graduate Institute, students will debate key moral issues in the biotechnology, pharmaceutical and device industries.
Class sessions consist of a combination of lectures, case presentation, background readings, and discussion of cases and the issues they generate.
