According to Forbes, biotech startups face ethical challenges that go beyond scientific and financial hurdles, with every decision from disease targeting to data usage carrying moral implications. Guadalupe Hayes-Mota, Director of Bioethics at Santa Clara University’s Markkula Center and an MIT Senior Lecturer, developed the CARES Framework as a practical model for integrating ethics into company DNA. The framework focuses on clinical accuracy, accessibility and equity, responsibility and oversight, ethics and privacy, and social accountability. Hayes-Mota emphasizes that ethics should be treated as a source of innovation and trust rather than mere compliance, arguing this approach can become a strategic advantage attracting partners, talent and investors who care about long-term impact.
The Surprising Business Case for Ethics
Here’s the thing about ethics in biotech—most founders treat it like a necessary evil, something you deal with after you’ve secured funding or when regulators come knocking. But what if building ethics into your foundation actually makes your company stronger? I’ve seen too many startups rush to make bold claims to attract investors, only to face devastating consequences when those claims don’t hold up. The CARES framework flips this script entirely.
Think about it: when you’re dealing with technology that literally touches human lives, trust becomes your most valuable currency. Patients, hospitals, and even investors are increasingly skeptical of biotech companies that prioritize valuation over values. Building systems like internal “truth audits” and ethics committees from day one might seem like extra work, but they’re actually risk mitigation strategies that pay dividends in credibility and sustainable growth.
Making Ethics Actionable
So how do you actually implement this without getting bogged down in philosophical debates? The framework suggests starting with small but intentional steps—writing an ethical charter alongside your business plan, conducting ethics risk mapping, creating advisory circles that include actual patients. These aren’t just feel-good exercises.
Take accessibility, for example. An AI diagnostic tool trained only on data from wealthy populations will inevitably fail when applied to diverse patient groups. But designing for inclusion from the start? That expands your market while aligning with the movement toward health equity. It’s the difference between building technology that works for some people versus technology that works for everyone.
When Privacy Becomes Partnership
Now, here’s where it gets really interesting. Most companies stop at GDPR or HIPAA compliance, treating privacy as a legal checkbox. But what if you treated patient data as a partnership rather than a liability? When you’re working with sensitive health information, transparency about how data is used can actually deepen collaboration with hospitals and reassure patients that their information serves a collective good.
Basically, we’re talking about shifting from “how little can we get away with” to “how much trust can we build.” In an industry where public trust has been repeatedly damaged, this approach isn’t just nice—it’s necessary for long-term survival. And let’s be honest, when you’re choosing between technology providers, wouldn’t you prefer the one that treats ethics as their operating system rather than an accessory?
The Metrics That Actually Matter
One of the most compelling aspects of this framework is its focus on measurable outcomes. We’re not talking about vague “do good” sentiments here—we’re talking about tracking how many lives your projects improve, how much waste is reduced, how many underserved patients are reached. These aren’t soft metrics—they’re concrete measures of whether your technology is actually making a difference.
Look, biotech has incredible potential to cure diseases and extend lives. But that potential can only be realized when innovation and ethics advance together. The question isn’t just “can we build it?” but “should we build it—and for whom?” For founders at the edge of discovery, that might be the most important business question they ever answer.
