BioWorld Perspectives Contributing Writer Editor's note: Paul Hartzell is senior vice president of Merrill DataSite. For CEOs and owners of small-cap biotech companies, 2008 was a year of immense opportunity. Even as the broader economy has slowed, biotech dealmakers are still seeing strong activity, and partnerships among biotech companies and between biotech and pharmaceutical companies are reshaping the industry. For small players especially, this means that if you're not paying attention

BioWorld World Staff Writer Idenix Pharmaceuticals Inc. has granted London-based GlaxoSmithKline plc worldwide rights to IDX899, a potential treatment for HIV/AIDS, in a deal that could bring in a potential $450 million for the U.S-based biotech. Cambridge, Mass.-based Idenix will receive $34 million up front and up to $416 million for development, regulatory and sales milestones. The up-front payment by GSK was split evenly between cash and the purchase of Idenix common stock at $6.87 per

BioWorld Today Washington Editor WASHINGTON — Sens. Max Baucus (D-Mont.), chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, and Edward Kennedy, chairman of the Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, told President Barack Obama in a letter Thursday they were committed to getting a health reform bill passed and enacted this year, despite no longer having Tom Daschle at the head of the effort. Kennedy and Baucus said they were "saddened" by Daschle's decision to withdraw from the nomination

BioWorld Today Assistant Managing Editor VANCOUVER, British Columbia - As it prepares to welcome the world for the 2010 Winter Olympics - set to start exactly one year from Thursday - the city, for the seventh year in a row, hosted a smaller group of local and international visitors as the annual BioPartnering North America conference, which opened Monday. The two-day meeting kicked off with some promising news for the region, as Pfizer Canada upped its commitment by an additional $2 million

BioWorld Today Washington Editor NEW YORK - Investors are generally optimistic about biotechnology firms as a solid target, with mid-cap oncology firms being the most attractive, according to new results from a survey conducted by the Biotechnology Industry Organization (BIO) and Thomson Reuters. The survey of more than 80 participants represented institutional, hedge fund and venture capitalist investment firms with $2.3 trillion in assets under management, including $266 billion in health

BioWorld Sourcebook Editor Editor's note: This is Part II of a two-part series of articles on marketing. Click here to read Part I, which included an example of integrated marketing and talked about digital media, web optimization, relationship building and campaign building. Your brand and product don't have to keep their current market position. To change your situation, however, you'll have to think outside the box. Now more than ever, creativity is required in order to truly distinguish

BioWorld Sourcebook Editorr Editor's note: This is Part I of a two-part series of articles on marketing. To receive Part II, make sure you are opted-in to BioWorld Perspectives. These days, it pays to think ahead. Marketing can make or break a brand or a specific product. Spending time to develop creative campaign elements can cement your marketing success, in the long run. For biotech companies, this means defining a product's uniqueness and superiority well before a product launch. Even post

Medical Device Daily National Editor In this issue of BioWorld Perspectives, we hereby provide, la David Letterman, a collection of "fun facts" about biotech, medical technology and health care ... a minority of which are actually true facts, or at least likely to be true. Look to future episodes of BioWorld Perspectives for more fun facts, and send in your own to bioperspectives@bioworld.com. The End of Our World as We Know It A group of viruses and bacteria recently got together and put

BioWorld International Correspondent LONDON – UK biotech needs to find a new way of funding start-ups. Even before the current financial crisis, institutional investors had lost interest in the sector because returns are too long term and too uncertain. Now action is needed from the government to provide tax incentives for investment in early stage companies and to secure the future of the sector, said a government-commissioned report published last week. "Biotech companies have not provided

BioWorld Perspectives Contributing Writer When life — or the economy — hands biotechnology companies lemons, they ask the government for help in making lemonade. The industry's most recent request is one for sheer survival. In December biotechnology industry executives visited Congress to ask for a temporary change in the tax law. It would allow companies currently losing money to get cash from the government now, in exchange for tax credits they would pledge not to take if they eventually

BioWorld Today Science Editor In his inauguration speech, President Barack Obama had both a warning for and an offer to countries that are hostile to the U.S. "We will not apologize for our way of life, nor will we waver in its defense," he said. But even to those countries that are currently enemies, "we will extend a hand if you are willing to unclench your fist." At a meeting of the Center for Strategic & International Studies in Washington, and in an editorial published in PLoS Neglected

BioWorld Today Assistant Managing Editor With negotiations seemingly at a stand-still six months after Genentech Inc. rejected as too low a $44 billion buyout offer from majority holder Roche Holdings AG, the Swiss drugmaker clearly hopes to set the deal back in motion, but analysts say it's doubtful the biotech's minority shareholders will be amenable to a reduced bid. Basel, Switzerland-based Roche said Friday it planned to proceed under a hostile takeover, taking its revised offer to

BioWorld Today Washington Editor WASHINGTON – As the nation marked the 50th anniversary of the death of rock-and-roll pioneer Buddy Holly, Tuesday also was the day the music died for Tom Daschle's pursuit to reform the U.S. health care system as a member of the Obama cabinet. Under pressure for failing to pay $128,000 in taxes over the past three years, Daschle called it quits Tuesday morning reportedly after reading a New York Times editorial calling for him to withdraw his nomination to lead

BioWorld Today Science Editor Despite the fact that they have racked up an impressive string of clinical failures to date, cancer vaccines remain the focus of active research, both basic and clinical. Recently, there have been reports on two variations of the basic approach. Researchers at the University of California, San Diego, are attempting to train T cells to recognize carbohydrates rather than proteins, while Harvard University bioengineers recently published data showing that by

BioWorld Today Washington Editor While Pfizer Inc.'s $68 billion bid for Madison, N.J.-based Wyeth is expected to boost the New York pharmaceutical giant's earnings and secure its position as the world's largest drugmaker, Dutch biotech Crucell NV became a casualty of the deal. Crucell, of Leiden, the Netherlands, said Monday that Wyeth had dropped out of merger talks with the Dutch drug and vaccine maker. Earlier this month, Crucell acknowledged that the two firms had being having "friendly

BioWorld Today Assistant Managing Editor Embryonic stem cells, which have been hailed as a potential revolutionary development in the field of regenerative medicine since the creation of the first cell line more than 10 years ago and also have generated a hailstorm of controversy in political and religious arenas, finally have a chance to prove their mettle in patients. Seven months after Geron Corp.'s 22,000-page investigational new drug application - the largest IND ever received by the FDA

BioWorld Perspectives Contributing Writer Editor's note: Douglas Martin, M.D., is managing director of Leerink Swann Strategic Advisors. What should you do when your blockbuster is being legally copied and sold for a fraction of the cost? For biopharmaceutical companies, the answer should be to create a sequel with nearly the same cast, and then target a new audience. In taking an aggressive "strategic innovation" approach, companies can leverage years of research to identify molecular

All My Clones—Episode 20: Strange Proceedings If you missed previous episodes of the biotech-themed soap opera "All My Clones," click here to read the beginning of the story. Champagne flutes filled with Krug 1998 vintage Champagne ($350 a pop, as it were) clinked during Cappuccino Pharmaceuticals' holiday party celebration. CEO Rupert Madasheck opened a package from the board chair, Betty Lidalot, to find a Tourneau Epic II limited edition watch. "A Lidalot better than the 'My Name is Rupert

BioWorld International Correspondent LONDON - ReNeuron plc has finally got the go-ahead for a clinical trial of its fetal neural stem cell treatment, securing the approval of UK regulators to treat 12 patients who are disabled following an ischemic stroke. The trial of ReN001, to take place at Glasgow University's Institute of Neurological Sciences, comes two years after the FDA put the product on hold in January 2007. Guildford, UK-based ReNeuron has continued to try to meet the agency's