The New York Times has an article (subs required) on the healthy future of biotechnology. Genentech is now 30 years old and in those years the biotech industry has been a loss making industry, losing close to a 100 billion dollars over that period (despite the huge success of Genentech and Amgen ). The interesting bit of news. Public biotech companies lost $2.1 billion in 2005, about $2 billion less than the previous year (about 4% of combined revenue).
One would hope that biotech is turning a corner. It is no secret that the research done in the biotech industry today is going to drive drug pipelines in coming years (the FDA approves more biotech drugs than pharma drugs). Investors have been guilty of over-hyping biotech in the past, but I think they have become better at recognizing the better bets and the pharma industry has become more adept at leveraging the good work done in the biotech industry.
The question I have is: Will the biotech industry be a separate industry over time or will biotech become so pervasive with pharma that it becomes the engine of that industry and simply gets assimilated?
Biotech: a bright future
The New York Times has an article (subs required) on the healthy future of biotechnology. Genentech is now 30 years old and in those years the biotech industry has been a loss making industry, losing close to a 100 billion dollars over that period (despite the huge success of Genentech and Amgen ). The interesting bit of news. Public biotech companies lost $2.1 billion in 2005, about $2 billion less than the previous year (about 4% of combined revenue).
One would hope that biotech is turning a corner. It is no secret that the research done in the biotech industry today is going to drive drug pipelines in coming years (the FDA approves more biotech drugs than pharma drugs). Investors have been guilty of over-hyping biotech in the past, but I think they have become better at recognizing the better bets and the pharma industry has become more adept at leveraging the good work done in the biotech industry.
The question I have is: Will the biotech industry be a separate industry over time or will biotech become so pervasive with pharma that it becomes the engine of that industry and simply gets assimilated?
Technorati Tags: Biotechnology, Biotech, Pharmaceuticals, Pharma, Industry