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Rebranding is one of the most daunting marketing tasks a company can undertake. It challenges long-standing perceptions, requires buy-in across stakeholders, and risks alienating existing audiences if done poorly. Yet when successful, it can transform a company’s positioning and open the door to new growth.
This was precisely the case for 4basebio, a Cambridge-based biotech that recently went through a total rebranding. In my latest conversation on The Science Marketer podcast, CEO Heikki Lanckriet shared the story behind the company’s rebrand, why it was necessary, and what others in the life sciences can learn from the process.
Why rebranding matters in biotech
In most industries, rebranding is difficult. In biotech, it’s even more complex. A company’s brand is not just a logo or color palette; it is an implicit promise of scientific rigor, regulatory compliance, and patient safety. Missteps can undermine trust with investors, regulators, and clinicians.
At the same time, the biotech market evolves rapidly. Companies may begin life as research-driven ventures reliant on investor funding, then transition into product suppliers or service providers. As business models shift, so too must the way these companies present themselves.
Heikki's company captured this shift clearly. In the early years, 4basebio’s website emphasized the investment case. But once the company reached scientific and regulatory milestones, its messaging needed to pivot: “Once we reached those milestones, we realized our website wasn’t really in line with where the company was at. The messages weren’t focused on the clients, they were focused on investors, and that needed changing”.
4basebio’s business is supplying synthetic nucleic acids used in advanced therapies, from viral vectors to mRNA vaccines. That position in the value chain meant the company needed a different kind of communication, one that spoke directly to drug developers and manufacturing partners. “We really wanted to engage with our clients much more effectively through our website. Hence, we want to provide more content and more ability for them to interact with us”.
The rebrand, then, was not just aesthetic, but became a strategic move to align with a new commercial reality.
Building the right team
Timing proved critical. Following a successful fundraise, 4basebio was able to expand its marketing capacity. “We hired our own kind of marketing team that could help us drive some of this forward… but of course, it’s still a fairly small team, so we also used consultants to help us accelerate and provide the experience where we were lacking”.
The marketing team — four to five people in total — was large enough to spread responsibilities but small enough to stay nimble. External agencies handled web development and supported aspects of brand identity. While unforeseen setbacks occurred, including personal issues within the agency, strong internal project management kept things on track. “If you plan ahead and have a good relationship with your partners, you can deal together with these unforeseen circumstances… we still delivered the project on time and on budget”.
The entire process took about six months, from kickoff to launch.
One of the central strategic debates was whether to make a clean break from the old identity or evolve it. Initially, Heikki leaned toward a full reset: “When we first started off, we were thinking we’d do a complete rebrand and nothing would stay”.
But through consultation and reflection, the team recognized the value of continuity. “We still wanted links with some of the old messaging and some of the old images. What we ended up with was an evolution of what we had into a new space. And I think that’s the right approach”.
This evolutionary strategy allowed 4basebio to modernize its look while preserving brand recognition. Even the logo followed this philosophy: once a literal DNA strand, it became more abstract, symbolizing the company’s shift from a DNA specialist to a broader nucleic acid player.
4basebio old logo (left) vs. new (right)
Rebrand as a launchpad for content
The new identity needed to stand out without alienating clients. “We wanted to stand out from competitors but we also didn’t want it to look crazy. It still had to represent our values around quality and innovation”.
The design changes were not superficial. The old website, with its sterile colors, “was quite boring, fairly sterile”. The new palette injected energy, and its application extended beyond the website: trade show booths, presentations, and marketing collateral now carried a consistent and memorable look.
As Heikki noted, this consistency is critical at industry events: “Making things stand out is helpful because you have very little time when people pass by your booths. The color scheme and the marketing are part and parcel of grabbing that customer”.
Consistency also solved a long-standing challenge. “When the company started up, a lot of it was done piecemeal by different people, there wasn’t a huge amount of consistency. We wanted to bring that level of professionalism, quality to stand out in our materials”.
Perhaps the most strategic shift was the decision to build a knowledge platform. The old website was essentially static; the new one incorporated blogs and resources designed to establish thought leadership.
“We want to have an open-source website and provide access to knowledge and information because that drives brand awareness and shows we are experts in our field”.
In practice, this means publishing content about synthetic DNA and nucleic acids, giving clients a reason to see 4basebio not only as a supplier but also as a trusted guide. This positions the company alongside broader trends in B2B marketing, where buyers increasingly expect education and resources before engaging with sales.
Phase one was the rebrand; phase two is the ongoing content marketing program. “We have a content program to really release more information and more data into the website that we think will be relevant to our clients”.
Launch and early impact
The rebrand launched in July 2024 with a press release, targeted client communications, and personal outreach. “We notified clients about the new website and the new functionality, and also our ambitions around content”.
Media pickup was strong: “I was positively surprised by the positive uptake that we’ve had from that website release”. Even more striking was the timing: one of 4basebio’s competitors launched a new site almost simultaneously. Comparisons favored 4basebio, reinforcing confidence in the choices they made.
Internally, early analytics painted an encouraging picture. “Traffic is up very substantially. If we look at our Google Analytics, all of the KPIs are trending up”.
Lessons from the process
Like any ambitious project, the rebrand tested the organization. For Heikki, the toughest challenge was not creative vision but execution: “Sticking to timelines and budgets, I guess, right? Nothing ever goes the way you think it’s going to go”.
The key was strong project management: “Having a good team that keeps on top of it, with milestones and deliverables, really championing this, that’s the key to success”.
Asked what he would change in hindsight, Heikki mentioned reducing unnecessary design iterations but otherwise expressed satisfaction: “On the whole, we executed it pretty much to plan, the important thing is the feedback from clients. The response has been very positive”.
His advice to peers is straightforward: “Plan your plan, pick the right partners, and make sure you have the right internal team. You need champions who’ve done it before, because it isn’t an easy thing and it requires a lot of effort”.
The rebrand is not an endpoint but a foundation for future growth. “The website is never a finished story anyway, we want to do more things around booths and swag, and we’re thinking about accelerators like advertising to get a wider reach”.
This approach reflects a modern understanding of branding as dynamic. In other words, the rebrand is less of a one-time project and more of a mindset shift toward continuous improvement.
Broader implications for Life Sciences companies
4basebio’s story highlights a broader truth: many life sciences companies face similar transitions. A startup’s first website often speaks to investors. But as companies mature, that orientation must change.
The lessons are widely applicable:
- Tie branding to business model maturity. Don’t wait until after commercialization to realign messaging.
- Balance continuity with innovation. Preserve what works while modernizing strategically.
- Engage stakeholders early. Scientists, commercial teams, and board members all need to feel ownership of the new identity.
- Think beyond the logo. Consistency across presentations, booths, and content is what makes a brand memorable.
- Invest in content marketing. In technical fields, clients want evidence of expertise, not just product claims.
- View branding as ongoing. Regular refreshes, not radical resets, keep companies relevant in fast-moving industries.
Rebranding is never easy, especially in biotech, but 4basebio’s journey shows how to do it right: align with business maturity, empower internal champions, balance evolution with innovation, and use the rebrand as a platform for deeper engagement.
As Heikki put it: “Branding is something that is fluid, is evolving and you just have to go with the flow”.
For biotech marketers, that mindset may be the most valuable lesson of all.
